Courtney Range literary analysis essay on a rose for emily committed to Cal, continuing a strong week of Pac-12 headlines in recruiting.
In the last week and change, the Pac-12 has been on fire with top 40 commitments. The latest was the Monday evening commitment of No. 38 Courtney Range of Stockton, Calif., to the Cal Bears and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“I just felt comfortable there,” Range said, “like my home away from home and that was important to me. And I could tell the coaches really wanted me and they were so genuine.”
Range is the third player in the Bears 2013 class. She joins K.C. Waters of San Ramon, Calif., the No. 54 prospect in the country. With the issa case study help 6-foot-3 Range and 6-1 Waters, Cal has two pieces to its puzzle that can play to mismatches and play multiple positions, plus it has 5-10 wing Mercedes Jefflo of Compton, Calif.
“She is the most versatile player I have ever coached,” Range’s AAU coach, Kelly Sopak of the Cal Stars adidas, said. “Her basketball I.Q. is at a very heightened level. She understands so much about how the game is being played it puts her a step ahead of everyone.”
What this may also signify is a shift in the focus of the elite prospects out west and their willingness to make the Pac-12 a power conference, and just in time for the Pac-12 write essay my name network.
That switch started with the 2012 class. No. 5 Jordan Adams of Irvine, Calif., signed with USC, No. 12 Nirra Fields of Santa Ana, Calif., signed with UCLA, No. 13 Alyson Beebe of Santa Maria, Calif., signed with Stanford, No. 22 Katie Collier of Covington, Wash., signed with Washington. Of the West Coast players ranked in the top 25, only No. 11 Imani Stafford of Los Angeles, fled east of the Pac-12 states.
The 2011 class did not fare as well as the No. 1 overall prospect, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis of Anaheim, Calif., chose Connecticut. No. 21 Erika Johnson of Seattle, Wash., chose Cal initially but transferred to North Carolina.
In personal essay for college entrance 2010 No. 4 Chelsea Gray of Manteca, Calif., chose Duke, No. 8 Shoni Schimmel of Hermiston, Ore., signed with Louisville. A year earlier, in the 2009 class, and No. 6 Monique Oliver of Long Beach, Calif., rescinded her commitment from USC, ultimately signing with Rutgers.
There are still several elite West Coast prospects yet to decide such as No. 10 Oderah Chidom of Oakland, Calif., who is considering Cal, Duke, UCLA and Washington; and No. 12 Kendall Cooper of Carson, Calif., who is considering Duke, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UCLA.
Alas the No. 1 prospect in the country, Mercedes Russell of Springfield, Ore., has trimmed her list to finalists Louisville and Tennessee, but hiv and aids research paper the fact remains that the commitments of Kailee Johnson to Stanford, Kelsey Plum to Washington and now Courtney Range to Cal sends the message that Pac-12 is getting deeper.
Chris Hansen is the managing editor for Peach State Media. In addition to serving as a contributor to the JumpOffPlus.com National Scouting Report, Hansen also covered girls’ basketball and women’s college basketball prospects nationally for ESPN.com. A graduate of the University of Washington with a communications degree, he has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a high school and club coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He is a member of the McDonald’s All-American team selection committee. He can be reached at [email protected].
