Friday night, Ace had a her third game of the Fraser Valley's vs Mouat. Saturday, she played in the Fraser Valley Championship game vs Holy Cross.
Here was my itinerary for that Saturday...
730am wake up
900am out the door to go watch a the jr girls Fraser Valley's at Riverside. Catch 1.5 games. Talk with players, parents, and coaches and enjoy some fantastic young players.
1230pm leave Riverside to drop Frank off at SFU for shoot-around.
130pm get home and pick up Ace and Mack to get drop Ace off at her game.
315pm Ace's game starts...videotape and text Frank updates.
Half-time race over to Cloverdale Rec centre with Mack for her game...drop her off and race back to LEC to catch the final quarter of Ace's game.
550pm race back to catch the final few minutes of Mack's game. Switch kids with Linda, she takes Mack, I grab Ace.
630pm race over with Ace to see Ace's boyfriend play in his game at Fleetwood.
900pm hurry up to SFU to grab Frank after their game.
So, between all of us, that is 6.5 games in one day at 5 different venues. IN ONE DAY!!!!
Anyways,
Ace's team surprisingly lost their game...Ace played a good game and unfortunately could not pull it off for her team. She did get a first team all-star.
Along with two of her teammates. They will certainly be looking forward to a rematch at provincials. It was a huge upset that I think made Ace refocus. We will not mention the two missed FT at the end of the game or the ill-advised 3pt attempt with 22 secs to go, or the missed block-out on a FT from the other team. Nope...we will not talk about that here.
We talked about it at home that night...until 2am.
Then we woke up at 8am on Sunday and made our way down to the University of Washington for an unofficial visit with Coach Neighbors and his staff.
We were treated royally...given seats right behind the bench and Ace was invited to sit in on pre-game, half-time, and post-game team talks! Frank and I loved hearing the coach interact with his team during the game, especially time-outs.
Unfortunately, UW came up against a very strong OSU team that was having a phenomenal shooting night. At half-time, I grabbed this photo of Coach Neighbors talking it out with one of my all time favorite players...freshman, Kelsey Plum. I like this relationship.
Ace brought along Michael...it was his first Div I experience. I think he was impressed.
After the game, the UW coaching staff gave us the grand tour. And they did a fantastic job. We got to meet the strength and training coaches and viewed the amazing dorms. Which are a world of difference from the dorms I lived in at Glenville. The assistant coaches were only half joking when they called the dorms, "Trump Tower". The coaching staff was great. You can tell they are very proud of their program and are very enthusiastic about the team. After a chauffeured tour of the campus we came back to see the practice facilities and then went up to the coaching offices to have a one-on-one with Coach Neighbors. He was very down-to-earth and friendly. He shared some coaching stories and his background and then he got down to the recruiting business. He said some very complimentary things about Ace and told her that he has a scholarship for her when she graduates. Things got real right then. I was shocked and Ace was more so. Frank took it in stride...he does this...the recruiting bit, and the promising of scholarships...but I've never been a part of a money offer. And to get it so soon was amazing. On the ride home, when asked, Ace said she thought she had another year before anything like this would happen.
I must say, that Ace is not ready for this caliber of basketball...yet. The game was so fast, and physical, and intense. I hope this visit inspires her, and gets her refocused. It is amazing that a PAC-12 team would take a gamble on her after just watching one game. To receive that kind of commitment, from a school of UW's stature should motivate a young player. I know, after a visit like that, I would be so inspired and motivated. I would work tirelessly to achieve what is being offered to Ace.
I think she will be receiving a lot of interest going forward. This coming summer and next year should be a whirlwind of opportunities and experiences.
Even team Canada is starting to court her. They are flying her out to their Edmonton camp this March. We didn't think that would happen. She is then flying straight from Edmonton to LA to go into a showcase camp. After that...AAU starts up and we will be flying across the country playing ball at various locations and venues. We will be in some of the top tournaments and be playing or watching some of the top talent in the US. I literally can't wait!!!!
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