SCRANTON, Pa. — There’s nothing small about Zya Small. Only an 8th grader at Northeast Intermediate in Scranton, Small is 6’1”. The daughter of former Scranton High and University of Scranton standout, Tiffany Williams, Small clearly has a big future.
"I say a lot comes from my height and I can do a lot, other than just being in the post," Small said. "I can see the court a lot. Driving to the basket and passing, just a lot has gotten better."
A game that’s already attracting national attention. Last year, when she was just 13 years old, Small received a scholarship offer from Boston College. Just last week, a second offer from Penn State -- two power five offers for a 14-year-old who has yet to play a single minute of high school basketball.
”It makes me feel happy, like very happy," Small explained. "I’m very proud of myself. I didn’t think that I would be recruited right now. I always thought when I get older, yeah, but not now.”
Small still has to decide where she’s going to play high school basketball before she even thinks about college, but she burst onto the scene thanks to the AAU circuit, playing for NEPA Elite’s 14 and under team, coached by Kevin Clark.
"It’s funny," Clark said. "I think she’s so young, she doesn’t really understand it all, the way that it is. So, I think that’s kind of nice. I think her speed and her strength at her age level right now really sets her apart, but if she continues to play at the rate she’s playing at, her potential and her ceiling are so high."
Maybe as high as her role model – Ciera Toomey, who just provided a nice a blueprint for what’s to come.
”I had a front row seat watching her, how hard she worked and the attention she got and I just want to be like that in the next two years, next two, three years," Small said.
A recruitment process already underway, for the Class of 2027.