Basketball grew on Bella Toomey, and now the Penn Charter forward has committed to a Division I school

When Bella Toomey first started playing basketball, her only intention was to have fun. Toomey and her friends in their Northeast Philly Fox Chase neighborhood had grown up playing several C.Y.O. sports, including soccer, track, and basketball.

For Toomey, whose first love was soccer, playing basketball wasn’t an intentional choice. She had started playing basketball because one of her close friends’ fathers was a coach. But for someone who loved playing sports as much as Toomey did, deciding to add basketball to her already full athletic plate was an easy choice.

The transition to the hardwood wasn’t smooth at first, and Toomey can recall those early moments trying to learn the new sport. Though it took her time to get used to it, it wasn’t long before basketball became one of her favorite pastimes.

“We all played even if we hadn’t played before,” Toomey said. “So that was fourth grade, and I was horrible at first. I was pretty bad. But I liked it because all of my friends were on the team, and it was competitive.

“Throughout the years, it was kind of just like ‘Oh, I play this sport.’ It’s kind of second nature to go play.”

She hadn’t grown up in a basketball family: neither of her parents had ever played the sport. When Toomey’s friends started signing up to play AAU basketball, Toomey and her family were initially unaware of what it meant to play on the circuit.

“She did the regular basketball season, [and] they’re like, ‘Now she’s got to sign up for AAU,’ and I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s enough, we don’t need that,’ ” Toomey’s mother, Lauren, said. “They’re like, ‘No, she has to, she has to play AAU, too.’ It was a lot … but I mean, it was worth it.”

She now plays with the Comets AAU program, and Toomey’s first AAU experience came with the Northeast Rockers. It was with the Rockers that Toomey’s talent on the court was noticed by her current coach at Penn Charter, Joe Maguire.

Maguire frequently attended local AAU tournaments, both to watch his Penn Charter players on their AAU teams and to scout players for his program’s future. When Maguire saw Toomey in a tournament run by the Comets, he took note of her talent and invited Toomey to Penn Charter’s summer basketball camp.

For Toomey, whose aunt and uncle both attended Penn Charter, that early interest from Maguire played a major part in the decision to enroll at the school.

“Coach Joe was a humongous part,” Toomey said. “He does so well with recruiting players; he’s so dedicated to it. … He was so involved even before I got there and so dedicated, and would invite me to the high school trainings.”

When Toomey got to Penn Charter, she started as a role player, earning key minutes on a team that finished 25-4. The following season, after several key rotation players had graduated, Toomey stepped up into a bigger role. Although the Quakers played just eight games that season because of the pandemic, Toomey averaged nearly a double-double.

She continued building on her success this past season, when she led Penn Charter on a state playoff run that ended in a one-point loss to Westtown in the PAISAA finals.

The key to Toomey’s consistent growth on the court: The 6-foot forward fell in love with film study and used it as a way to set clear goals.

“On the offseason, in AAU, I would look back,” Toomey said. “I’ll still watch games from freshman year because I go into [the website] Hudl all the time; I like watching them. I would just look back and see what I liked from the season and what I didn’t and then just keep improving.

“Every year, once the season ends, I kind of just reflect back on it and have goals for it. Then those goals are what I work toward in the offseason, and then hopefully in the next season I accomplish those goals.”

That approach to the game is what helped Toomey transform into a Division I recruit. The Penn Charter standout drew offers from several schools, including local programs Drexel and La Salle, and also the Fairleigh Dickinson program that landed a commitment from Toomey in June.

Toomey had visited Fairleigh Dickinson in May and immediately appreciated the way Knights coach Angelika Szumilo ran her program.

“One of the biggest things was just how they treat their players and the character they have. … They really just showed their care for their players,” Toomey said.

Toomey also fits FDU’s style of play, and the same versatility that she showcases at Penn Charter will be key in helping her transition to the college level.

“She can handle the ball on the perimeter,” Comets coach John McFadden said. “[She’s] a good shooter. ... She gets to the basket. I think she’s going to be a really good three-point shooter in college.”

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Said Maguire: “She can cover one through five. Offensively, she can play inside if you need her to, and she can play on the perimeter if you need her to.”

Although Toomey has decided on her basketball future, her focus is currently on her senior season at Penn Charter.

Toomey will serve as a leader for a Quakers team that returns much of its state runner-up team, including senior guard Aleah Snead and gets back senior guard Kelsey Bess from an ACL tear. As a result, Toomey has set high goals ahead of her final high school season.

“We kind of keep saying to ourselves, ‘We’re winning this year,’ ” Toomey said. “We’re going through the Inter-Ac, and then we’re winning it because we want to go out with a bang.”