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On Saturday morning, CCCHS senior Channah Gannon announced her commitment to play college basketball for the University of Southern Indiana on Thunder Radio’s Coffee Coaches Show.

Gannon received a total of 11 NCAA Division I offers, the most any athlete from Coffee County has received since former Red Raider football player and current NFL cornerback Alontae Taylor.

Among the 11 offers she received, Gannon’s top five choices were UT Chattanooga, MTSU, Nebraska, Samford and Southern Indiana. Gannon also received offers from the University of Buffalo, ETSU, Saint Louis University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Tennessee Tech and The University of Toledo.

On the Coffee Coaches show, Gannon discussed each of her top five choices, then revealed that she would be choosing Southern Indiana, where her older sister Chloe currently plays as a member of the Screaming Eagles.

“Most people will probably think that it’s because of my sister,” Gannon said on Thunder Radio. “It’s a big factor, but it’s so family oriented there and the way they play has caught my eye ever since Chloe started playing there.”

The USI Screaming Eagles women’s basketball team is coming off of a fantastic season in 2023-24 where they went 25-7 and won the OVC Championship. Because Southern Indiana was in the second year of a four-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, the Screaming Eagles weren’t eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament, but they made the most of a WNIT appearance, beating the UIC Flames 69-64 at home in the first round and narrowly losing to Wisconsin 67-62 in the second round.

With her sister already being at USI, it might have seemed like an easy decision for Gannon to make, but according to her mother, Anita, it was still a tough decision.

“Channah was having a hard time because all 11 schools had something unique to them and all of the coaches were amazing,” said Anita. “She ultimately picked the one that hit home the most and I think that she just wanted to play with her sister. It’s amazing…seeing my girls have the same opportunity that I did…especially for them to play at the Division I level.”

Anita, the current head boy’s basketball coach at Westwood and assistant girl’s coach at CCCHS, played her college years at UT Chattanooga.

Lady Raiders head coach Joe Pat Cope believes that Gannon will fit in nicely when she gets to Evansville, Indiana.

“Southern Indiana is a big team inside-out,” said Cope. “The way that she sees the floor and passes the ball is so good for a player at her position. If the defense tries to double her, especially with the good shooters that Southern Indiana has, she is going to find those shooters and it’s going to be a perfect fit.”

Before she heads to USI, Channah Gannon will have one more season as a member of the Lady Raiders where she and her teammates will try to improve upon the previous season and get back to the State Tournament.