Arundel’s Ashley Davis is headed to Drexel.

Last month, the 5-foot-9 shooting guard picked the Dragons over offers from St. Joseph’s, Loyola, Towson, Hofstra and Richmond.

Davis, who averaged 14 points as a junior, committed to Drexel on a visit to the Philadelphia school a few weeks ago.

“When I was playing pickup with the girls, it just felt like I was here still, like at Arundel. It was basically the same style of play and everything,” Davis said. “I was relieved a lot. I was happy as well.”

Davis’ commitment brought the 2008 Maryland Hurricanes AAU squad over the $1 million dollar mark in athletic scholarship support -- a calculation of four years of tuition, room and board. Eight former Hurricanes and class of 2008 members will begin their college-basketball careers this season: McDonogh’s Becky Cox (George Mason), St. Frances’ Kandice Green (Seton Hall), McDonogh’s Destiny Jacobs (Stony Brook), Dulaney’s Danielle Parker (Delaware), Arundel’s Ayanna Randolph (Furman), Glenelg’s Katie Biggs (Shepherd (W.Va.) University), Atholton’s Brittany Coughlan (Berry (Ga.) College) and Old Mill’s Bethany Hart (Shippensburg).

Davis, the Hurricanes’ lone 2009 prospect, had to branch out on her own this summer. While her former teammates were preparing for college, Davis was back on the AAU circuit with the Fairfax (Va.) Stars.

But while the team scenario was different, her support system was the same. Hurricanes team manager Kevin Randolph continued to handle much of the logistical aspects of Davis’ recruiting and coach Michael Coughlan returned to the sidelines with Davis’ new team.

"They were very involved. ... [Randolph] was like a father to me. He had a lot to do with it," Davis said. "He was always there for me and so was [Coughlan]."

Coughlan, a career research and development teacher at Oakland Mills, planned on spending his summer taking classes to keep his teaching certification up to date. He accomplished that, but also took on the unexpected task of coaching Davis and the Stars.

“Once I finished up my spring classes, it was the middle of May and [the Stars] were without a coach,” Coughlan said. “Ashley and her mom asked me, and when the kids ask, I’ll make sacrifices. So we practiced down in northern Virginia a couple times a week. I just wanted to make sure they had a stable environment.”

Coughlan said he enjoyed spending one last summer on the AAU circuit, especially since he was able to help Davis find a home after coaching her for the last three-plus years.

“It was awesome,” Coughlan said. “I’ll be honest, with Ashley, I’ve got a lot of respect for her. [She came to the Hurricanes] a year younger [than her teammates] when she was 14 and the kids were 15. It benefitted her because she was already further along. ... [Going into this summer] she had the three solid offers (Drexel, St. Joseph’s, Loyola) before the July period. The July period was just to see what opportunities came up. She got three more, Richmond, Hofstra and Towson. So she was ahead of the game because of the groundwork that was laid.”

For Randolph -- who was instrumental in formulating the Hurricanes’ business plan -- hitting the one-million dollar mark in scholarship and tuition money brought great satisfaction, particularly since all of the girls found good situations.

“Well I’ll tell you, the whole one-million thing didn’t come into fruition until girls started making their commitments,” Randolph said. “Then we had the potential to keep pushing, even on the girls who went [Division II]. But the goal was to get them into schools. The girls landed at some pretty good academic as well as athletic programs. But all the credit goes to the ladies, for sure. They put in the work. ... [We’ll be] doing more travel [to see the girls in college, so] it’s going to be quite interesting. Quite a few of the girls have great potential, so it’s going to be exciting.”

Read more about the Hurricanes’ Million Dollar Team

Baltimore Sun photo of Ashley Davis by Amy Davis / March 10, 2008