One of many prime freshmen in ladies’s faculty basketball didn’t waste any time making noise on her new campus.
Aaliyah Chavez — the MVP of the Jordan Model Basic and Gatorade’s Nationwide Excessive Faculty Participant of the Yr — grabbed the microphone earlier this week at Oklahoma’s Class Kickoff, a pep rally of kinds for the Sooners’ incoming freshmen. And after hyping up the gang stuffed with her fellow classmates, she made a noteworthy declaration.
“Candy 16 final yr, however we going to the Elite Eight this yr. I promise that. I promise that y’all,” Chavez mentioned. “And I problem all of you to be at each single residence recreation. Each single one.“
Oklahoma has surged in recent times below coach Jennie Baranczyk — going to 4 straight NCAA Tournaments, profitable two common season convention titles and showing within the Candy 16 final season — however the Sooners haven’t superior to an Elite Eight since 2010, again once they had three WNBA gamers of their beginning lineup.
There’s cause for optimism in Norman although. The Sooners return their prime three scorers — Raegan Beers, Peyton Verhulst and Sahara Williams — and introduced in a formidable freshman class that’s headlined by Chavez. For the returners, Beers is coming off a season the place she averaged 17.3 factors and 9.4 rebounds per recreation whereas taking pictures 63.3 p.c from the ground, Verhulst posted career-bests in a number of stats final season, and Williams is coming off a summer time the place she featured for Group USA’s 3×3 squad.
And Chavez is being billed as one among, if not the most effective, rookies within the nation. She scored greater than 4,000 factors in her highschool profession and had her decide of prime packages to select from, choosing the Sooners over provides from South Carolina, LSU, UCLA and Texas.
With Chavez becoming a member of an already gifted roster, Oklahoma going to the Elite Eight isn’t all that far-fetched.
