Arizona coach Adia Barnes tweeted her foreshadowing announcement of a commitment on Sunday by first stating, “Today is a great day. It’s actually a FABULOUS WEEKEND! The future is bright baby!” followed by the Bear Down symbols.
Today is a great day. It’s actually a FABULOUS WEEKEND! The future is bright baby!
— ADIA BARNES 🐻⬇️🌵🌞 (@AdiaBarnes) July 12, 2020
🐻⬇️
— ADIA BARNES 🐻⬇️🌵🌞 (@AdiaBarnes) July 12, 2020
Multiple sources have confirmed that a verbal commitment will be announced Monday by a prospect after Barnes received a substantial one this weekend from 5-star Class of 2021 6-foot-3 post player Aaronette Vonleh of West Linn (Ore.) High School.
After tomorrow, Barnes and her staff will have three commitments for the Class of 2021. Madison Conner, a shooting guard who will play for AZ Compass Prep in Chandler this season, was the first to commit two months ago.
With Aari McDonald exhausting her eligibility after the 2020-21 season, Barnes may be looking to bolster the point guard position for 2021-22.
Two 5-star point guard prospects have listed Arizona among their finalists — Kayla McPherson of Madison County (Ga.) High School and Kyndall Hunter of Houston Cypress Creek High School.
Another possibility is 5-foot-10 international point guard Anna Gret Asi of Tartu, Estonia. In the 2019 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championships, Gret Asi averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. She won a 3-point shooting contest during the NBA’s All-Star Game festivities in Chicago in February.
Monday’s commitment could come from one of these players or another prospect.
PG Kayla McPherson, 5-7, Madison County (GA) H.S.
Proud of You Kiddo!!!! @KaylaMcPherso20 pic.twitter.com/GfbuTLK6nW
— Team Elite Hubbard (@HubbardCoach) June 5, 2020
- Other finalists: North Carolina, N.C. State, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech.
- ESPN No. 15 prospect (5 stars).
- ProspectsNation.com No. 11 (5 stars).
- Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after she averaged 23.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game in 2018-19. McPherson averaged 36.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game last season.
- ESPN’s assessment of McPherson following the Nike Nationals last summer: “Athletic floor-leader with a scorer’s mentality in the back court; competes on both ends of the floor; game manager in half-court setting, penetrates and distributes in traffic; offensive arsenal delivers at all three levels; an elite guard prospect in the class of 2021.”
PG Kyndall Hunter, 5-7, Houston Cypress Creek H.S.
Thank you to all the coaches that have taken the time to recruit me, with that being said I will be continuing to build relationships with these 10 schools 🤍🥳 #ripnanny #ripgrandma pic.twitter.com/DsBHfUInqV
— Kyndall Hunter (@kynskillz) June 28, 2020
- Other finalists: Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Texas, LSU, Rice, USC, Florida State, N.C. State and ASU.
- ESPN No. 29 prospect (5 stars)
- ProspectsNation.com No. 19 (4.5 stars)
- Averaged 20.0 points and 2.8 steals a game last season. She has 2,217 points in three years as a varsity player.
- ESPN’s assessment of Hunter following the Texas state tournament in March: “Athletic lead-guard with combo-game; rebounds, brings attack mode in transition game, finishes plays with body control to the rim coast-to-coast; deep range offensive arsenal complemented by mid-range game; elusive off the dribble, pressures the defense; offensively skilled, superb off the dribble.”
PG Anna Gret Asi, 5-10, Tartu, Estonia
- Anna Gret Asi won the 3-Point Champion Award during the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Camp as part of 2020 NBA All Star Weekend on Feb. 17, 2020 at Quest Multisport in Chicago.
- MVP of the (BWB) Europe Camp last year. She led the FIBA U16 Division B Women’s European Championship in 2018 in scoring as she averaged 19.3 points 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 2.4 assists.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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