GCC’s Erica Gribble, Quaker Valley’s Oumou Thiero nominated for McDonald’s All-American Game

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, January 30, 2026 | 4:22 PM

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Two of the WPIAL’s premier girls basketball players are nominated for the country’s most prestigious all-star game.

Erica Gribble, a senior point guard at Greensburg Central Catholic, and senior swing forward Oumou “Mimi” Thiero of Quaker Valley are nominees from the East for the McDonald’s All-American Game.

Both are living up to the hype this season as four-star Division I recruits and prolific scorers who can do much more than put the ball in the basket.

The 5-foot-11 Gribble is a Richmond recruit who is averaging 24 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 3.5 assists for the Centurions. She has led GCC, the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class 3A, to back-to-back WPIAL titles.

Gribble, who has made 53 3-pointers in 17 games this year, is GCC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,100 career points. She is the 46th girl in WPIAL history to score over 2,000.

Thiero (6-foot-5), a Maryland commit, leads the WPIAL in scoring at 29.8 points per game. She also averages 15.9 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 4.1 steals for the Quakers, who are ranked No. 4 in WPIAL Class 3A.

Thiero had 35 points, 26 rebounds and five blocks in a recent game against Beaver Falls.

Her brother, 6-8 Adou Thiero, who also starred at Quaker Valley, plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Oumou Thiero is ranked No. 42 in the nation in the ESPN SportsCenter Next 100.

Gribble is No. 80 on the list.

All-American rosters will be announced in the coming weeks.

The all-star games are played in late March or early April. Neither game times nor a location have been announced.

Other Pennsylvania players nominated are Makayla Presser-Palmer (Northwestern), Ava Kopetskie (Liberty), Bella Magestro (Kennedy Catholic), Bailey Balkir (Gwynedd Mercy Academy), Kamora Berry (Neumann Goretti), Jasmine Butler (West Catholic), Zion Coston (Neumann-Goretti), Sanai Johnson (Neumann Goretti), Alexis Eberz (Archbishop Carroll), Colleen Besachio (Archbishop Wood), and Atlee Vanesko (Westtown School).

Eberz is a Villanova commit, while Vanesko is headed to Ohio State.

Here are the full lists of nominees: East and West.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Quaker Valley