Top 2025 recruit Lena Girardi, Joe Girardi’s daughter, narrows down list to 5 programs

Top 2025 recruit Lena Girardi has narrowed her list to five finalists, she told On3. Girardi, the daughter of former MLB player and manager Joe Girardi, is a 6-foot shooting guard out of Bradenton (Florida) IMG Academy. 

“I’m such a competitive person,” Girardi said. “I take pride in being the hardest worker on any team I’m on. That’s what got me to where I am today. I’m someone who’s very good at attacking downhill and drawing fouls – that’s one of my biggest things.” 

Lena Girardi will be considering Oklahoma State, Arizona, Northwestern, North Carolina and Virginia Tech for her eventual landing spot. She’s visited Northwestern and UNC so far, along with Virginia Tech with the previous staff. Girardi plans to take official visits to each of the six programs this fall prior to making her decision near the November signing period. 

“The biggest thing for me is the culture,” Girardi told On3. “I think a lot of people say that, but when you visit the school, you can tell if a school has it or not. I’m hardworking. I want to win. A family environment is also really big… It’s bigger than basketball. I’m a human and that needs to come first.”

She told On3 she has set official visits to Oklahoma State (Aug. 29-31), Virginia Tech (Sept. 2-4), Northwestern (Sept. 14-16) and Arizona (Sept. 28). She’s in the process of scheduling a visit to UNC. 

Lena Girardi broke down her five finalists with On3. 

Oklahoma State

“They’re the only school I have on this list that came in late. They actually just offered me after I was in Ohio. The biggest thing for them was the instant connection I felt with the head coach [Jacie Hoyt]. We’re on the same page and did a lot of things at the same speed. Our thought process was very similar. It’s always important for me to connect with the head coach, because trust is a very big thing.” 

Virginia Tech

“I’ve visited there and I loved the campus with the previous staff. That’s also big for me, the campus. The actual staff there – coach Sharnee [Zoll-Norman] and a couple of others had recruited me at other schools since 8th grade, so that already made it easy, because it was people I knew. Then when coach [Megan] Duffy called me, I just really liked her mindset. She’s very hardworking. She kind of reminds me of my dad in some ways. She’s very tough on the court and that’s exactly how I play. She was also just someone I connected with.” 

Northwestern

“They also recruited me early. It was my freshman year, which is very early. I’ve built a relationship with them over the past two or three years and coach Joe [McKeown] is awesome. I also really connected with coach Brittany [Johnson] and I really like how they see me fitting into their system. Also, my parents and grandma went there, so I’ve been there so many times. I was around the campus a lot as a kid and I think the campus is beautiful.”

UNC

“Coach Courtney [Banghart] started recruiting me very young, but she offered me a little later. UNC is such a beautiful campus and is known for basketball. She’s really fun and bubbly and I’m kind of like that too. We hit it off talking and I like watching them play. I like their style a lot. I’m definitely excited to go back for an official. How she saw me fitting in, I really took that to heart.”

Arizona

“Adia [Barnes] is awesome. I loved her from the second she called me. She has this cool personality where you can tell she really cares about the kids she coaches, but she’s no BS. She has this swag and this pop and I really like that. I like how competitive she was on the court too. I play with that same edge, so what I love about her is her edge. Also, if you’ve watched her teams over the years, from the beginning to the end of the season, her freshmen look drastically better. Development is really big for me, so to see her players get more comfortable and progressively get better is what I want to do when I go in. I really enjoy how she developed all her guards.”

The post Top 2025 recruit Lena Girardi, Joe Girardi’s daughter, narrows down list to 5 programs appeared first on On3.