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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – Pelham guard Karma Wynn announced her commitment to play women’s basketball at Tulane University on Friday, July 14.

With her announcement, Wynn is the first Pelham girls basketball player in program history to commit to playing Division I college basketball.

“Honestly, it’s something that I worked for,” Wynn said of receiving the opportunity to play college basketball. “It’s super huge.”

Wynn committed to Tulane after attending their elite camp on campus and touring the facilities. She toured the campus and got to build a relationship with them, and she felt that Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton valued her as both a person and a player.

“I liked that they showed some kind of interest at the camp,” Wynn said. “Even coach Stockton at the end told me how she was impressed by how I played and competed in the camp.”

She said that she was so impressed by the program that she wanted to commit on the spot when she received her offer from the Green Wave on July 11, but she took a few days to consider it. She said it was an easy decision to commit to Tulane because she loved everything about the program.

“The environment that I was in, the coaches, they actually care about their players,” Wynn said. “And you can tell just by the conversations that I had with them, the players were cool. It’s in a beautiful city, it’s diverse.”

The rising senior was one of the region’s top guards last season for the Pelham Panthers. Running alongside Pelham’s all-time leading scorer Laci Gogan in the backcourt, Wynn averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in the 2022-23 season.

She was named to the All-County Third Team in 2023 as well as the All-Area team for helping Pelham reach the Elite Eight in the 6A state playoffs.

She impressed coaches and scouts on both the high school and AAU circuits with her relentless drive and strong rebounding presence despite standing just 5-foot-4. Wynn received multiple collegiate offers before deciding on Tulane.

Wynn was thankful for all of her coaches and teammates at Pelham for supporting her and preparing her for the next step in basketball and life, especially assistant coach Chris Monroe. She said they helped make her a better person and player and also showed her what a true program should be.

“They put me in all kinds of positions to succeed,” Wynn said. “They gave me the resources that I needed to improve my game, the coaching. I know what to look for in other coaches because of my coaches, I can tell that they care. It’s a family aspect, they want the best for me and they push me.”

With one more year to go at Pelham, Wynn still has plenty of chances to shine on the court for the Panthers. Her commitment to Tulane has made Wynn want to step up even more for Pelham and lead the program as a senior.

She wants to use the rest of her time in Pelham to become the best player and teammate as she can to help Pelham achieve their ultimate goal of a state championship.

“I’m just going to play and definitely work harder, especially because I do want to prepare myself this season for college, holding myself accountable and staying disciplined, getting in the extra work that I need, making sure that I’m paying attention to my coaching and still pushing my teammates, holding them accountable as well,” Wynn said. “I want to put myself more into a leadership position for sure.”