Northern Guilford's McField named as a freshman all-American girls basketball player (2024)

Guard Leena McField of Northern Guilford High School was “wowed” upon hearing on Thursday that she has been named to the MaxPreps Freshman All-America Team for the 2023-24 girls basketball season.

“Being ranked among the best freshmen means a lot to me and it was good for my family,” McField said. “It is really giving me that drive now that, ‘Wow, I’m really ranked above some of the best players in the country,’ so it gives me more of a push to grind more.”

McField was one of 27 players from the 2027 class and one of two players representing North Carolina to receive the honor from the national website that made selections based on “team success, individual production and local, regional and state honors from the recently completed season,” with potential at the college and professional level not being a primary consideration and players from post-grad or non-scholastic programs ineligible for consideration.

During the campaign, McField scored a school-record 701 points, which also ranks second all-time for freshman in NCHSAA history, in addition to breaking other Northern records such as three-pointers in a season with 87, three-pointers in a game with eight, and points per game at 23.4. In addition to points per game, she also led her team in rebounds at 7.3 per contest.

In the playoffs, she averaged 30.1 points over the three games, played against Davie County, Ardrey Kell and Myers Park.

On Jan. 19 against Page, McField had a season-high 38 points with the help of her school-record eight threes against the Pirates’ zone defense.

“That night, my shot was falling, so anything I had or any time I was open, I was going to shoot it,” McField said. “If they don’t step up, I’m going to shoot it.”

The standout has received NCAA Division I scholarship offers from Appalachian State, Charlotte, Elon, Mississippi State, North Carolina A&T and UNC-Wilmington.

McField moved with her family to Greensboro from Mississippi prior to the 2022-23 school year and played basketball in eighth grade at Northern Guilford Middle School, where she averaged 30 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals per game for the Guilford County Middle School champions. In the Guilford County title game, she put up 35 points in a 46-42 overtime victory over Eastern Guilford Middle.

“The eighth-grade version, I was definitely more of a do-it-all kind of person, score all the points, do this, do that, but this year I leaned more into a more calmed down, ‘don’t need to score all the time but score when I needed to,’ and also on the defensive end, I improved there,” she said. “Definitely on the defensive end, that was the best improvement that I have had.”

McField credited Northern assistant Leah Turner for helping her get better defensively.

“Definitely learning how to sit down and play defense by sliding my feet, not galloping,” McField said.

The freshman entered the season with a goal of averaging 20 points and six rebounds for the Lady Nighthawks and accomplished both. First-year Northern coach Josh Evans had McField in his starting lineup from the onset in preseason practice and in the games.

“I felt pretty confident, but at the same time, I knew I had to work my way up since I’m the youngest one,” McField said.

The other North Carolina selection was North Pitt guard Jordan Speller, who helped the Panthers go 29-3 and win the NCHSAA 2A state championship.