6-foot-5 center to visit Syracuse women's basketball; 'She’s a gym rat,' per head coach

Hillary Simo, a fast-rising center in the 2028 class who is originally from Cameroon, plans to unofficially visit Syracuse women's basketball in the coming months, her head coach confirms to Inside the Loud House.

News of the 6-foot-5 Simo's interest in visiting the Orange, among other schools, was first reported in recent days by Talia Goodman of On3/Rivals. Simo, in the upcoming season, will be a junior at The Newman School in Boston, where her head coach is Syracuse alum Katie Kolinski.

Kolinski served as the director of basketball operations under Buffalo head coach Felisha Legette-Jack during the 2018-19 season, when the Bulls knocked off Rutgers in the 2019 NCAA Tournament's first round. Legette-Jack, an All-American player at SU, has been the Orange's head coach since March 2022.

Kolinski tells Inside the Loud House that Simo is eyeing a visit to the 'Cuse in September, but nothing has been finalized at this point. "She likes the program at Syracuse and has watched their games, so she is familiar with their style," Kolinski says of Simo.

According to social media posts, Syracuse offered Simo in late June. Her full scholarship offer sheet also includes schools such as La Salle, Penn State, Providence and Rutgers. Per Kolinski, Simo is garnering interest from some powerhouse programs in women's college basketball, like Louisville, Michigan and Baylor.

In the latest AAU season, Simo has competed for the 17U team of the Newton, Mass.-based Bay State Jaguars in the Under Armour Association league.

Syracuse women's basketball is in pursuit of 2028 center Hillary Simo.

Newman plays in the ultra-competitive New England Preparatory School Athletic Council ("NEPSAC") at the Class AAA level. As a sophomore in 2025-26, Simo was named All-NEPSAC honorable mention while averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Cardinals. She connected on 50 percent from the field.

Kolinski tells Inside the Loud House that Simo came from Cameroon to the United States last year and didn't speak English when she arrived here. Simo "has worked extremely hard and works out with me or her AAU coach Laurie Bollin almost every day in the summer. She’s a gym rat. If she isn’t in the gym, then she’s running on her own," Kolinski shares.

The Newman head coach stresses that Simo is a terrific person and teammate. "She's been using her voice on the court and is vocal. Someone who just loves the game," Kolinski says.

So what kind of skill set does Simo possess at this stage in her high school career? Kolinski says that her center "is a back-to-basket post player. Loves to use her spin move and get to her half-hook. She moves well laterally and can get up and down the floor. 15-foot range. I believe she’s more skilled than Aliyah Boston at this age."

That's high praise from Kolinski, as Boston, a power forward/center, won a national title at South Carolina and is now a star in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever. Boston was the league's rookie of the year in 2023.

Another player for Newman who holds an offer from Syracuse women's basketball is 2029 guard Melody Vaughn, a 5-foot-10 prospect. Vaughn, per her Instagram page, landed a scholarship offer from SU on May 29, 2025, and took an unofficial visit to the Hill on October 16, 2025.

On June 12 of this year, word broke that Vaughn would transfer from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pa., to Newman for her upcoming sophomore campaign.

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