McKinzie Green elevates for her trademark baseline floater at the 2018 Check Me Out Showcase in Austin, Texas. *Photo by Chris Hansen.

Some Pac-12 schools picked up major commitments just before the first July evaluation period tipped off July 6 while at the break some other Power 5 schools have also stacked their rosters.

 

UCLA Dials Texas Again

The Bruins have found continued success recruiting in Texas in recent years and that trend continued for Cori Close and her staff with the addition of Jaden Owens.  The 5-foot-9 point guard from Plano, Texas is ranked No. 23 in the 2019 class heading in the summer.  

The commitment of the 4.5-star rated prospects is the second player in the 2019 class to commit early to UCLA with Owens joining fellow Texan Camryn Brown, a 5-foot-10 guard from Lewisville, Texas.  Both player play with the Cy-Fair Nike Elite program.

Owens is a savvy point guard prospects who impacts the game on both sides of the ball.  When combining the 2019 and 2018 classes, the Bruins have considerable talent and depth in the backcourt.

 

Tennessee Lands Major Key

Tamari Key of Cary, North Carolina, is headed to Knoxville.  The 6-foot-4 post gave Tennessee her verbal during the July evaluation period break. She is ranked No. 50 in the 2019 class coming into the summer and is rated as the No. 8 post.

“With her tremendous length and timing, Tennessee has landed the best shot blocker in the 2019 class in Tamari Key,” Keil Moore, director of scouting, said. “She will make an instant impact defensively and give them quality front line depth.”

 

Utah Keeps Martin Home

Kemery Martin compets at the 2017 Check Me Out
Showcase in Minneapolis, Minn. *Photo by Chris Hansen.Utah is not a state that regularly produces multiple four-star prospects on a yearly basis but 2019 is a benchmark year.  Keeping that talent home is important for Utah if head coach Lynne Roberts wants to build an NCAA Tournament caliber team.  By adding Kemery Martin of Sandy, Utah is a big step in that direction.

Martin, a 5-11 combo guard who plays with the Colorado Premier EYBL program, was a standout last fall at the Check Me Out Showcase in Minneapolis.  She competed against the likes of Kansas State signee Chrissy Carr and Maryland commit Zoe Young in addition underclass standouts like 5-star sophomore Paige Bueckers.  

Martin joins another versatile and long guard in the Utes 2019 recruiting class, Brynna Maxwell of Gig Harbor, Washington.  The duo have very different strengths and the drive and dish game between the two should allow Maxwell to get open looks from three and Martin the chance to create off the bounce.  This class is complementing the four-player 2018 signing classRoberts inked last fall.

 

Prechtel Newest Big Tree

Go figure; Stanford has another 6-5 post in its future.  The newest Stanford Cardinal big is Ashten Prechtel of Colorado Springs, Colorado.  This gives Stanford two frontcourt weapons in the 2019 class with Prechtel joining 6-2 Francesca Belibi, another Colorado native.  

The post duo will enjoy the company of one of the nation’s best 3-point shooting specialists in Pinewood High’s (Calif.) Hannah Jump.

 

 

McKinzie Green Chooses SEC

The Texas A&M Aggies landed a top 50 prospect in the 2019 class during the break.  McKinzie Green of Rosharon, Texas, gave head coach Gary Blair her commitment. She chose the Aggies over finalist Arizona State.

Green is a 5-6 explosive point guard for the San Antonio’s Finest club program.  She is ranked as the No. 46 prospect in the country entering the summer and the ninth overall point guard.  She is A&M’s first commitment in the class.

 

 

Caldwell Chooses Arizona State

Sydnei Caldwell of Gladstone, New Jersey, gave her verbal commitment to Charli Turner-Thorne and Arizona State during the July break. The 5-foot-9 guard is a four-star rated prospect who is ranked 109^thin the ELITE 150 for the 2019 class.

TRANSFER STATION

Fifth-year senior transfer Dominique Ward of Eastampton, New Jersey, signed with Saint Francis College (N.Y.) earlier this month.  Ward averaged 7.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals per game as a junior before missing last season with injury.

 

Amber Ramirez of San Antonio, Texas, decided to jump from the Big 12 to the SEC.  After completing her sophomore season at Texas Christian, the 5-9 shooting guard decided on the Arkansas Razorbacks.

 

Madinah Muhammad of Chicago, Illinois, chose North Carolina after three seasons at Ole Miss.  The 5-8 guard averaged career highs in minutes (33.6), points (16.8), rebounds (3.1) and assists (2.6) as a junior.

 

 

Chris Hansen is managing editor of ProspectsNation.com and serves on the McDonald’s All-American and Naismith Trophy selection committees.  He was a co-founder of and the national director of scouting for ESPN HoopGurlz from 2005 until 2012 and is the director of the Check Me Out Showcase and ELITE is EARNED events.  He can be reached at chris@prospectsnation.com.