It didn’t take long for Dunn to make an impression on O’Dowd Coach Malik McCord and her impact was huge on a very young Dragons squad.

On an Open Division level team with six players averaging over seven points a game Dunn had per game averages of 9.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.1 assists per game. On defense she did not play like a freshman.

“Daylee was very consistent the entire season on what she brought to the table,” McCord said. “The bigger the game the better she would play. As a starter she definitely contributed to our success.”

When NCS coaches other than McCord were queried they agreed the long 5-10 Dunn was far and away the top freshman in the NCS despite a couple of others having bigger numbers, and her getting injured late in the season and missing some games in the playoffs.

One of her biggest games and a performance that caught the eye of scouts, analysts and other coaches was in a hard fought but decisive 71-63 victory over a short-handed but still very formidable St. Mary’s-Stockton.

Dunn finished with 17 points on five three-pointers, including four in a first half that saw the Dragons turn a 10-2 first quarter deficit into a 37-28 halftime lead they never relinquished. Plus, she was called on to guard talented junior guard Ariel Johnson of St. Mary’s and held her own.

According to McCord once word got out on her three-point shooting she became even more heavily scouted. On the season she finished 33.6 percent from beyond the arc.

“Just her being on the court opened up a lot of things for us just because of her three-point shooting,” McCord remarked.

“Besides her shooting she continued to improve over the year and took to (Myah) Pace and would work with her after practice,” continued McCord. “They were almost always the first ones at practice and the last to leave.”

According to McCord her upside is she is continuing to get better and develop her game on both ends of the court, working on her mid-range jumper and getting to the basket on offense, and being an even better defender.

“She continues to pick my brain and try to be a lockdown defender,” McCord said. “She wants to be the best player to ever play at O’Dowd and she’s putting in the work to try and achieve that goal.”

The young O’Dowd team is going to be very good next year, and Dunn, the 2017 CIF North Coast Section Freshman of the Year, will be a huge part of the mix.

NOTE: We would like to thank our media partners, coaches, parents, players and fans for contributing photos for our all-section features. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of NCS basketball.