Sydney Affolter
Sela Heide competes at the Check Me Out Showcase in Seattle, Washington. *Photo by Glenn Nelson.
Recruiting Rundown: Cal and Michigan State add to their 2020 classes while Iowa and Portland State score in 2021.
Cal Gets Heide On Visit
Sela Heide of North Bend, Washington, verbally committed to the University of California – Berkeley over the weekend while on a visit. The 6-foot-7-inch post joins an already talented first signing class for first year head coach Charmin Smith.
Heide is ranked No. 140 in the ProspectsNation.com ELITE 150. Her length and touch around the basket will be a boon Bears team which now has five signees in 2020. Heide joins McDonald’s All American selection Dalayah Daniels of Seattle, Washington; McDonald’s nominees Fatou Samb of Houston, Texas, and Ugonne Onyiah of Eastvale, California, as well as international prospect Onela Muca of Athens, Greece, who has played FIBA competition with the Albanian U18 national team.
With Heide’s addition, four of the five Bears signees stand 6-3 or taller. This is reminiscent of the size the Final Four team of 2012-13. That team had interior depth with Reshanda Gray, Talia Caldwell, Gennifer Brandon and Justine Hartman. Both Brandon and Caldwell finished their careers with 1,000-plus rebounds.
With frontcourt seemingly set for years to come, look for Cal to lock in on recruiting dynamic guards in the 2021 class.
berkeley bound #committed pic.twitter.com/7CEVIev5r2
— Sela Heide (@HeideSela) January 26, 2020
Iowa Lands Affolter
Sydney Affolter of Chicago, Illinois, gaver her verbal commitment to Iowa this week. The 5-10 guard is ranked No. 44 in the ProspectsNation.com ELITE 75 for the 2021 class. She is the second top 50 recruit for the Hawkeyes in the class, joining AJ Ediger, the 6-f post from Hudsonville, Michigan, who is ranked 47th.
Adding Affolter before the end of high school season is a big addition for the Hawkeyes. A wing with good size, she is able to hit 3-pointers and attack the rim alike. Affolter has the size, skill to be an effective combo guard. Her competitiveness was on full display. She’ll play with All Iowa Attack EYBL this coming summer.
whatsup hawkeye nation.... committed pic.twitter.com/tWDUTxZeYC
— Sydney Affolter (@sydneyaffolter1) January 29, 2020
Michigan State Dials Sweden
Matilda Ekh of Lulea, Sweden, has committed to Michigan State. Michigan State is adding a member of the 18-and-under Swedish National Team. She has a build and size that reminds me of current Spartan Tory Ozment at the same stage. Like Ozment, Ekh will bring a combination of skill and length to Suzy Merchant’s roster giving her a chance to contribute in multiple product categories.
Ekh joins Kendall Bostic of Kokomo, Indiana, in the 2020 recruiting class. Bostic is a 6-1 interior who is ranked No. 81 in the class by ProspectsNation.com.
National Training: #BCSTrainingAcademy HS
— Brandon Clay (@BrandonClayPSB) January 28, 2020
May 30-31
ATL
‘20 Matilda Ekh of Sweden will join Michigan State next fall.
Academy Watch List x @BClayScouting
Stina Almqvist
Emma Bruen
Jess Finney
Abby Wrede
REGISTER: https://t.co/NlIsIK51tu @freddealmqvist pic.twitter.com/5hYpdIDUef
Portland State Scores Morales
Esmeralda Morales of Spanaway, Washington, has given her verbal commitment to Portland State University. The 5-5 point guard is a crafty lead guard with the I.Q. and ball skill to run a team. She was a part of leading her Bethel team to the regional playoffs as a sophomore, scoring nearly 17 points per game after returning from a foot injury. This season she is averaging more than 20 points per game for her unbeaten team.
— Esmeralda Morales 12 (@esmebballin12) January 28, 2020
Brandon Clay serves as the Director of Scouting for ProspectsNation.com and owns The BrandonClayScouting.com Evaluation Report, which is read by more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide. He also serves as the Executive Skills Director for the Brandon Clay Scouting Academy Series.
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.
