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From Richmond to Rhode Island: Ella Stambaugh Finds Her Home

From Richmond to Rhode Island: Ella Stambaugh Finds Her Home

By: Matt Flanagan | SportzWire | August 8, 2026 | Photo courtesy Matt Flanagan

Ella Stambaugh thought the recruiting process was over.

After collecting Division I offers, taking visits and spending years building relationships with college coaches, Stambaugh committed to the University of Richmond in November 2025. She had found her school, made her decision and could finally turn her full attention back to basketball.

Then, nearly six months later, everything changed.

A coaching change at Richmond following the 2025-26 season left Stambaugh with another major decision to make. After conversations with her parents and coaches, she chose to reopen her recruitment and step back into a process she thought she had already finished.

For a high school athlete, there was understandably some uncertainty that came with it.

Stambaugh was already navigating the constantly changing world of Division I athletics, while also changing AAU programs heading into her final summer. Suddenly, she was taking calls, talking with coaches and evaluating schools all over again.

But it didn’t take long for her to realize the relationships she had built throughout the process mattered. Coaches who had recruited her before quickly reached back out, while new programs also began showing interest.

Eventually, that second chance led her to the University of Rhode Island.

Stambaugh visited URI following the Division I evaluation period in May, and the connection was immediate. The Rams’ coaching staff was already familiar with her game, and during the visit they showed her the campus and facilities while laying out their vision for the program and exactly how they believed she could fit into it.

Within a few days, she knew.

Stambaugh committed to Rhode Island, bringing an unexpected second chapter of her recruitment to an end.

What makes her journey even more interesting is that basketball wasn’t always supposed to be the sport that took her this far.

Stambaugh grew up playing soccer, field hockey and basketball, but soccer became her primary focus at a young age. It wasn’t until eighth grade that she made the decision to shift her attention toward basketball.

Things moved quickly from there.

She played her first full AAU season during the summer following her freshman year and began receiving Division I offers that same summer. Entering her sophomore year, she already had five. After another AAU season, that number had grown to 15.

The kid who had spent much of her childhood focused on soccer had suddenly become one of the area’s most heavily recruited basketball players.

Her production on the court has backed it up.

Last season, Stambaugh averaged 21.3 points per game, knocked down 44 3-pointers and surpassed 1,000 career points in January. She enters her senior season with 1,355 career points after helping her team finish as the District 2 Class AA runner-up and reach the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

She was also named Division 2 Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and earned PIAA Class AA First-Team honors after earning Third-Team recognition the year before.

I’ve been fortunate enough to train Ella since she was young, long before Division I offers and college commitments were part of the conversation. I’ve watched her grow from a multi-sport kid into the basketball player she is today, and that’s probably what makes this next stage so exciting.

Through all those years training together, and now at Flanagan Performance, the goals have continued to evolve as Ella has. With the recruiting process finally behind her, the focus now becomes pretty simple: continue getting stronger, more explosive and physically prepared for what a Division I weight room and college basketball are going to demand from her.

But before any of that arrives, there’s still one more high school season.

And after everything that came with the last several months, committing to Richmond, watching the situation change, reopening her recruitment and eventually finding Rhode Island, Ella can enter that season without wondering where she’ll be next year.

That question has finally been answered.

Ella Stambaugh is going to Rhode Island.

And now, she can get back to work.