O’Hara’s Molly Rullo eager to share in revolution for women’s basketball
MARPLE » Molly Rullo’s future in basketball is an open book. Her story is nowhere near finished. As one of the brightest high school stars in Pennsylvania, the Cardinal O’Hara junior has enjoyed seeing the revolution of women’s hoops unfold before her eyes.
Caitlin Clark is a household name, but many other players are responsible for shining a national light on the sport.
Earlier this week, Rullo’s eyes lit up as she discussed the game’s meteoric rise and the influence it has had on her own burgeoning career.
“It has been super impactful,” she said. “You know, growing up I felt like I was prone to watching a lot more men’s basketball. That was cool and all, but they are way different than the girls. It’s just a different game.
“When I think back, what motivated me to come to O’Hara was watching Hannah Nihill, Kenzie Gardler and all of those girls win the (Catholic League title) back-to-back years. That is what I thought was so cool, going to The Palestra and seeing them play in front of thousands of people. That was so impactful to me at a young age.
“Now as I have gotten older, seeing Caitlin Clark and girls like that playing in big arenas, watching them play at The Palestra was like a preview of what it could be like at the higher level. Caitlin Clark — and not just her alone — kind of started everyone watching and it’s just been so entertaining to see because you’ve never seen someone who can do the things she does.”
Few players at Rullo’s level can do the things that she does. That’s a big reason why she is the 202324
Daily Times Player of the Year.
Joining Rullo on the All-Delco team, which is selected after consultation with area coaches, are O’Hara teammate Joanie Quinn, Archbishop Carroll’s Brooke Wilson, Garnet Valley’s Haylie Adamski, and Haverford’s Rian Dotsey and Aniya Eberhart.
Rullo scored nearly 17 points per game on the way to helping O’Hara win its third PIAA championship in four years. She started every game this season with her sophomore sister, Megan. Molly has been a key part of two state championship teams at O’Hara.
Rullo remembers when she fell in love with O’Hara; the fond memories of being a fourth grader and sitting in the bleachers of her future high school gymnasium, wishing she could be just
like Hannah Nihill someday. The Drexel Hill resident knew at an early age that O’Hara was her dream school.
“It was that competitive fire Hannah had, never wanting to lose,” Rullo said. “And her defense. Growing up, defense was something that my dad ingrained in us that if you play hard on defense, then a lot of other things will work out for you. Just seeing that come from a good player like Hannah was really impactful.”
Much has been written about Rullo’s bloodlines and her family connection to Drexel. She will become a Dragon in the fall of 2025, following in the footsteps of her parents, Maureen and Jim, both of whom were hoops standouts at Drexel. Jim Rullo is the men’s coach at Neumann University in Aston.
Drexel’s connection to O’Hara is another reason why Rullo wanted to be a Dragon. She grew up idolizing Nihill, one of the greatest point guards to come through both programs. There have been other Lions turned Dragons in recent years, including Maura Hendrixson and Amaris Baker.
“Knowing how those girls went and had success at Drexel, that kind of motivated me,” Rullo said. “And there were a lot of other Comets (her AAU team) who were able to go into Drexel’s program, get better and produce significantly for them. Seeing that was a big reason why I chose Drexel.”
It was not lost on Rullo that her future school was the only Philadelphia area team — men’s or women’s — to make the NCAA Division I tournament last month. On the same day Rullo and the Lions defeated Spring-Ford for the 6A title, No. 16 Drexel fell to top-seeded Texas in the opening round of March Madness.
“How well Drexel did this year, just to make the tournament, that was really cool to see,” she said. “It was very cool to see because I feel like Drexel sometimes gets overshadowed by the other schools in the city. Seeing them come out on top and do what they did was great.”
Rullo has one year to go before she takes her talents to Drexel. Even though she’s won two state titles and one Catholic League championship, Rullo has plenty more to accomplish, on and off the court.
“Going into next year me and Brigid MacGillvray, who is my other junior teammate, want to go out the same way we came in here — winning the PCL championship and the state championship,” Rullo said. “And developing my leadership skills and impacting the young classes, like the seniors did when I was a freshman. I think of Maggie Doogan, Annie Welde and Sydney Scott and how important they were to me when I was a freshman. So, being the type of leader that I can impact younger girls so that when they are seniors, they are impacting younger girls, too. And it just keeps going and going like it has here for years. To go out like that is important to me. I also want to keep developing on the things I need to work on, getting pushed every day in practice and in games, so that I can be ready for college.”