ELLA KRYAL IS THE 2026 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR!
“Most player’s listen but Ella hears you- she is as coachable as a player can be. She’s old school, sprints off the floor, sprints to the coaches in practice. She respects the game and her team so much. Her range is crazy and her release is jet quick. Shes makes shots that most won’t attempt. What’s scary is her game is not close to complete. I don’t see her as someone to get complacent”…Quote, Matt McCarthy, Head Coach Trinity Hall High School
The list of names of former Shore Conference FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR reads like who’s who of New Jersey basketball. There are a few things that all former All Freshman Of The Year Winners have in common. They are all D1 bound in the future, as every winner has gone on to play D1 basketball. They are also future First Team All Shore and All State players. They all become Player Of The Year Candidates. They have a different attitude towards development while embrace coaching. They love doing the hard things just a little more than their peers. There parents always are parents and not fans first. It’s why winning this award is so hard to win and carries so much weight, it’s a true predictor of the future. This years winner gave a real peek into the future, this season. ELLA KRYAL OF TRINITY HALL is the 2026 New Jersey FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR.
Three years ago, their were people trying to put Ella Kryal into a box, before she played a meaningful grammar school game. They tried to say she was too slow and not built to be a star. They questioned if she was big enough and athletic enough. But then again they said the same thing about future Mickey D All American, Justine Pissott. But you must understand when both your parents, were D1 basketball players not to mention your Grandfather is one of the best players in state history and considered one of the greatest defensive coaches ever while at Monmouth University winning Chips and going to the NCAA’s. You tend not to pay attention to those who question your talent and future, while crowning others. That’s because Ella Kryal and her parents knew she had a passion, desire and commitment that so many of her peers and classmates lack today. It is her work ethic, that has allowed to rise above all others in the 2029 Class. She has done one of the hardest things for kids to do today. She has elevated her game to another level against the best of the best. She simply has out hustled everyone in becoming the current class G.O.A.T.
This past season Ella Kryal was the Pre-Season favorite to win the 2026 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD. That’s because she was one of the few freshman that proved she could play against older elite D1 competition and excel. Blessed with a god given talent to shoot the ball, she proved she was an elite scorer before sitting foot on the Trinity Hall campus. Her shooting range has to be seen to believe. But it’s her efficiency, that makes her stand out. She is a high percentage shooter who has to the ability to get off tough shots that most only dream about, she is one of the best tough shot makers we have seen in a recent times. This pass season she had 58 threes on the season. But what was remarkable about those three’s was this, she was faced guarded and doubled team almost the entire season. This is unheard of against a freshman. Yet Kryal somehow managed those 58 threes despite missing 5 games due to illness and being game planned all season. More impressive Ella Kryal, did her best work this year against the Top teams in the State. She had 12 points against Ewing for example, 18 against Staten Island Power, OLM. 19 points against state champ Colts Neck, 11 vs Neptune, 16 vs RFH, 16 vs Top 10 St. Thomas Aquinas. You see Ella Kryal got her numbers against the best, real competition. Then as if to send the state a little season ending message about what to expect in the future. She averaged over 14 points a game the last 5 games of the season. No Freshman in recent years have I SEEN GAME PLANNED MORE THAN ELLA KRYAL and yet still deliver….Ella Kryal backed up her preseason expectations in a major way by proving them to all be correct. She has checked every box and clearly has established herself as a future Player of The Year and All State players.
See you always want to know the history of a player. When I first met “I GET BUCKETS” AKA ELLA KRYAL. She was shy and barley said a word. But over the years like her game, she has gained confident and now is a leader and has lots to say with a beautiful sense of humor. She was once a skinny little girl. Now she is a big physical true combo guard who has expanded her game. These days Ella standing at 5’10” and her college type body, has caught up with her off the charts skills she has developed at a early age. It’s a classic example of physical growth meets talent and skill. It’s a dangerous combination and nobody is proving that more than Ella Kryal these days. Because she has become an elite passer of the ball, she can play multiple positions and play them well with no drop off in performance, something that gets lost in her shooting talents. Just like how most don’t understand her work ethic, she is the type of Gym Rats College coaches dream and pray about. She spent the entire summer working her quickness and defense. She embraced doing defensive slides and drills. She embraced going to camp all summer, when her peers took the easy way out. Ella Krayl does the hard stuff. There are only few kids that have that burning desire to go way beyond their natural talents. Ella Kryal is one of them. Her attitude is a winning one, when you came off the bench until the final 5 games of the season. She never said a word. Never expressed displeasure when it was clear she was Trinity’s 2nd most important player. You see ELLA KRYAL DOES THE WINNING SHIT!
This was a dream like FRESHMAN season for Ella Kryal. She accomplished all a kid could possibly dream about. She did the impossible this season. She delivered on all expectations with a target on her back, she checked every box. Now Ella as a sophomore will be asked to lead her Trinity Hall teammates into battle. She will have to show her teammates what it takes to get over the hump and how to make great things happen ….like becoming gym rats, going the extra mile, and rising the standards, while maintaining the goals and culture that was set before she arrived… and oh yeah, WINNING THE 2026 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD!…CONGRATS TO TRINITY HALL GUARD, ELLA KRYAL. who is now part of the rarest of clubs. THE SHORE CONFERENCE POY CLUB, EACH CLASS ONLY GETS ONE AND YOUR THE ONE!
