Published: January 27, 2009 10:27 pm      

SPRUILL: Girls hoops on the rise in Edmond

Edmond has definitely had its share of talent on the hardwood over the years.

Blake Griffin is widely considered the top pick in next years NBA Draft.

But once Obi Mounello signed with Oklahoma State, and Griffin left for Oklahoma, it was believed that Edmond would experience a drought.

Hardly. One year maybe, but what was missing has now turned up on the girls side.

It’s not often that you see sophomores, or freshmen for that matter, get playing time, especially here. But the times have changed a bit. Not because of necessity, there are talented upperclassman. But how do you keep young superstars on the bench. You can’t, not with this group.

“The Edlam battles are certainly going to be fun to watch for years to come,” Central Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. Hardaker gets to see all of the local talent with his daughter Tate playing at Santa Fe.

The next generation of players has arrived, led by North sophomore Elizabeth Donohoe, who has verbally committed to Oklahoma State. Santa Fe freshman Courtney Walker has D-I prospect written all over her, while Memorial freshman Alie Decker has a lot of potential, with her size and shooting ability.

"Liz is a tremendous talent, and Memorial has a freshman that starts some for them also. I get to watch Courtney every time she plays. Basketball goes in cycles, it seems to be strong at times, then drop off, but this is definitely one of those times where its strong here in Edmond,” Hardaker said. “Even the senior class is good, I think it’s a great senior class, there were several early signings.”

Memorial coach Shane Coffey believes Donohoe could be one of the best players Edmond has ever seen.

“Liz is the best player I’ve seen in the nine years I’ve been here,” Memorial head coach Shane Coffey said. “She’s a special player. When things aren’t going well, she takes it upon herself, puts the team on her back and just carries them. She’s fun to watch, she’s going to have a major impact on the game of high school basketball in Edmond that will be felt for years to come.”

Donohoe has the intensity and the size to be a force at the next level. You want players that hate to lose, and you can see the fire in her eyes each and every time she steps out on the court.

Losing is something North shouldn’t experience much over the next two years.

Walker may not be one of the biggest guards, but isn’t lacking in talent. She’s tenacious on the defensive end and has the length to finish on the fast break or close to the basket. Walker is good from the outside as well.

“She’s got instincts. She’s got instincts, it just comes natural for her,” Hardaker said.

“You know, it usually comes in cycles, one of the three school’s will have a good player. But now all of us do. I was talking to one of my assistants the other day about how good Edmond would be if we just had one or two schools. Can you imagine what we would have combined. We’re able to get by now, one of the schools is good every year, but with all of them combined, we’d be the favorite. That would be fun for the community,” Coffey said.

Coffey credits the rise in popularity of women’s basketball at the collegiate level to today’s talent.

“What Sherri Coale has done at Oklahoma, and recently what Kurt Budke has done at Oklahoma State has been incredible. What’s happened is the game has turned into more of what the mens game has to offer. It’s fast paced, more defense, it’s just more exciting to watch,” Coffey said. “What has happened over the last 10 years has been tremendous. Girls have the opportunity to take it to the next level, and even the level after that. They have that opportunity now, if they want to do that.”

Coffey doesn't anticipate the current rise in talent to be a fluke. From the sounds of things, this is only the beginning of great things come.