Utah Sky Also Producing College Talent
Readers of The Recruiting Trail and The Salt Lake Tribune's sports section the past month have probably noticed an increased effort to keep tabs on women's college basketball recruiting.
Girls basketball talent in Utah is getting better each year, as evidenced by the amount of girls earning college scholarships.
The club team Salt Lake Metro Girls has been getting a lot of love for its five Division I recruits from the Class of 2008 -- Skyline's Dani Peterson (BYU), Box Elder's Mandy Munds (Utah), Timpview's Alexis Kaufusi (BYU), Beaver's Morgan Wood (SUU) and Canyon View's Cassie Platt (SUU).
Today, we throw a little attention to another club program, Utah Sky. Coach Kara Harrison's club is quite a bit smaller than Metro and perhaps a bit more selective (she says), but still has some highly recruited players who are just starting their season years.
Like Metro, the Utah Sky draws players from up and down the Wasatch Front and occasionally from as far away as southern Utah and eastern Nevada.
The club has four seniors, and at least three could land Division I scholarships.
Chiefly, Spanish Fork's Jenna Johnson, a 5-foot-9 shooting guard, has committed to Utah Valley State College. Johnson, the leading scorer in 5-A girls basketball last year, tore her ACL in a tournament at Oregon City, Ore., last spring and missed a lot of the summer basketball season.
Whether she will play for the Dons this year remains to be seen, Harrison said, because an injury like the one she suffered sometimes takes more than a year of recovery time.
Bingham's Erika Newbold, a 6-1 post player, is also seeing some recruiting attention. Newbold has several offers from out-of-state schools, but is trying to decide between Utah State and UVSC, Harrison said.
"She's got a great basketball body, but she's also kind of a homebody," Harrison said.
Park City's Lauren Deane, a 6-footer, has a different philosophy. She's got some in-state offers, but would prefer to go out of state.
But while Newbold and Johnson will likely sign when the early signing period begins in November, Harrison said Deane will probably wait until next spring to put her name on the dotted line.
Locally, Weber State has shown the most interest in Deane. She's the sister of former Ute Daniel Deane, who is transferring to Oregon State.
Utah Sky's fourth senior is Avi Burgess, from Riverton. She started playing basketball later than most college prospects and will probably have to go the junior college route if she wants to play after high school, Harrison said.
Evan Still Soaring
Occasionally, The Trail will provide updates on former Utah high school stars who are flourishing at the college level -- sort of a "Where are they Now" segment. The emphasis will be on athletes at out-of-state colleges who don't get covered in the newspaper's reports on the in-state schools.
If you know of any, send an e-mail to drew@sltrib.com and we will give them a mention or two in this space.
Lone Peak's Christina Evans, for instance, is off to a fabulous start at Hartwick College in New York, where she plays volleyball and water polo.
Evans was recently named the Empire 8 Conference's Rookie of the Week for volleyball after she compiled 46 kills, 76 digs and 15 service aces in her first four college matches.
Evans was twice named Lone Peak's Female Athlete of the Year.
Girls basketball talent in Utah is getting better each year, as evidenced by the amount of girls earning college scholarships.
The club team Salt Lake Metro Girls has been getting a lot of love for its five Division I recruits from the Class of 2008 -- Skyline's Dani Peterson (BYU), Box Elder's Mandy Munds (Utah), Timpview's Alexis Kaufusi (BYU), Beaver's Morgan Wood (SUU) and Canyon View's Cassie Platt (SUU).
Today, we throw a little attention to another club program, Utah Sky. Coach Kara Harrison's club is quite a bit smaller than Metro and perhaps a bit more selective (she says), but still has some highly recruited players who are just starting their season years.
Like Metro, the Utah Sky draws players from up and down the Wasatch Front and occasionally from as far away as southern Utah and eastern Nevada.
The club has four seniors, and at least three could land Division I scholarships.
Chiefly, Spanish Fork's Jenna Johnson, a 5-foot-9 shooting guard, has committed to Utah Valley State College. Johnson, the leading scorer in 5-A girls basketball last year, tore her ACL in a tournament at Oregon City, Ore., last spring and missed a lot of the summer basketball season.
Whether she will play for the Dons this year remains to be seen, Harrison said, because an injury like the one she suffered sometimes takes more than a year of recovery time.
Bingham's Erika Newbold, a 6-1 post player, is also seeing some recruiting attention. Newbold has several offers from out-of-state schools, but is trying to decide between Utah State and UVSC, Harrison said.
"She's got a great basketball body, but she's also kind of a homebody," Harrison said.
Park City's Lauren Deane, a 6-footer, has a different philosophy. She's got some in-state offers, but would prefer to go out of state.
But while Newbold and Johnson will likely sign when the early signing period begins in November, Harrison said Deane will probably wait until next spring to put her name on the dotted line.
Locally, Weber State has shown the most interest in Deane. She's the sister of former Ute Daniel Deane, who is transferring to Oregon State.
Utah Sky's fourth senior is Avi Burgess, from Riverton. She started playing basketball later than most college prospects and will probably have to go the junior college route if she wants to play after high school, Harrison said.
Evan Still Soaring
Occasionally, The Trail will provide updates on former Utah high school stars who are flourishing at the college level -- sort of a "Where are they Now" segment. The emphasis will be on athletes at out-of-state colleges who don't get covered in the newspaper's reports on the in-state schools.
If you know of any, send an e-mail to drew@sltrib.com and we will give them a mention or two in this space.
Lone Peak's Christina Evans, for instance, is off to a fabulous start at Hartwick College in New York, where she plays volleyball and water polo.
Evans was recently named the Empire 8 Conference's Rookie of the Week for volleyball after she compiled 46 kills, 76 digs and 15 service aces in her first four college matches.
Evans was twice named Lone Peak's Female Athlete of the Year.
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