The Salt Lake Tribune
Monday, December 17, 2007
Basketball: Dixie's Whitehead to Join Creighton
Utahns who have followed high school basketball in the state the past five years will probably remember Tom Whitehead, a 6-foot-6 star from Dixie High who helped the Flyers put together two or three great seasons in 2001-03.

It has been a long, winding road for the former all-stater, but Whitehead has finally found a place to play Division I college basketball.

Whitehead has signed with Creighton, and will begin playing for the Bluejays in the fall of 2008. He will enroll at the school in January and practice with the team the rest of this season, which will be counted as his redshirt year.

"I'm dang excited," he said.

Whitehead went on an LDS Church mission after graduating from Dixie High in 2003 and then ran into some NCAA Clearinghouse issues when he returned.

Whitehead played for Yavapai Junior College in Arizona last year, and averaged nearly 22 points a game for the Roughridgers, so he will have three years to play three at Creighton.

Weber State and Southern Utah also offered scholarships, along with Miami, Colorado State, Northern Arizona, Boise State and others, but Whitehead chose Creighton in part because he likes coach Dana Altman and also because the Jays have been to the NCAA Basketball Tournament seven of the past nine seasons.

Utah and BYU both showed some interest in him, but both are loaded at the position he plays (small forward/wing) so neither school came through with an offer.

"Creighton is the best fit for me," Whitehead said.

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Speaking of basketball commitments and signings, I talked to a local expert today about the class of 2008 and whether there are any boys basketball players out there that could still land Division I scholarships.

Some 10 players from Utah signed with college programs last month, most notably Brighton's Jace Tavita with Utah, Logan's Charles Abouo with BYU and Lon Peak's Justin Hamilton with Iowa State.

My source believes Woods Cross' Patrick Day, a 6-9 post player, still has a chance to land an offer. Also, Olympus big man Elliott Bullock has a chance, partially due to his strong academic record.

Pine View's Louis Garrett, Snow Canyon's Dalton Groskreutz and Brighton's Ali Langford could also land somewhere.

On the girls side, the best unsigned player is probably Fremont's Mechel Hunt. She has been out with a torn ACL but is due to come back in January and colleges are interested in watching how she has recovered.

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Another St. George area athlete has announced her college plans. Snow Canyon volleyball star Anna Nostrant has signed to play that sport for Salt Lake Community College.

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About Jay and Lya
   Jay Drew and Lya Wodraska cover high school and college recruiting for the Salt Lake Tribune. If you have recruiting news, e-mail drew@sltrib.com.