Nevaeh Caffey is one of two true freshman to join head coach Teri Moren’s Indiana program this season. She was ranked as the 65th highest-rated prospect in the class of 2025 by ESPN.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the season:
The Background
Caffey spent four years at Incarnate Word High School in St. Louis, Missouri, winning the Class 6 State Championship in each of those seasons. Her official scholarship offers trickled in slowly at first and mostly consisted of mid-major programs bef0re the likes of Mississippi
State, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Pitt and Oklahoma got involved.
The Stats and the Skillset
Caffey finished her career at Incarnate Word High School averaging 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, adding in 2.2 steals.
Standing at 5’10”, Caffey brings some solid size to Indiana’s backcourt. There’s definitely taller options at guard, but 5’10” is perfectly fine.
Offensively, she’s capable of operating with or without the ball in her hands. She can shoot it well enough and will do so if open, particularly off the catch. Scoring wasn’t a major concern for her for much of her high school career. She was surrounded by plenty of talent and charged with getting them the ball in advantageous positions, proving capable of doing so with time.
Perhaps her greatest strength is her defense, namely her ability to pressure opposing ball handlers. She brings quickness and, again, good enough size to the backcourt to be a reliable piece on defense. Those 2.2 steals per game should jump off the stat sheet.
Also, she’s absolutely the kind of player that’ll dive onto the court for a loose ball, which you can catch right around the four minute mark below:
The Role
Caffey seems more of a long-term play than an immediate impact addition for Indiana, somewhat in the mold of a Chloe Moore-McNeil. I don’t know if her career will follow the same trajectory, but she brings similar skills and intangibles between her defense and coaches encouraging her to take an active, leadership role on the court.
It’ll be interesting to see how Indiana’s backcourt ultimately shakes out. I could see Caffey competing for minutes with the likes of Phoenix Stotijn, Lenee Beaumont (depending on where the staff sees a few players positionally), Jerni Kiaku and Chloe Spreen. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her take a bigger role earlier given her team-first style of play.
More than anything I’m interested in hearing Moren’s thoughts on this roster and how it ends up shaking out. Sorry for providing a lot of non-answers above, but that’s the best that can be done until we see this group on a basketball court.
