Info provided by the University of Arizona athletic department.
TUCSON, Ariz. – The 2017 Girls’ High School Basketball Naismith Watch List was released this week and future Wildcats Cate Reese and Shalyse Smith were named to the prestigious list. Smith and Reese are two of the 10 athletes that will be attending Pac-12 schools while Arizona and UCLA are the only two Pac-12 schools to have multiple named to the watch list.
Reese is tabbed as a five-star recruit and the fourth-best post player in the country by ESPN. Coming in as the 14th-best prospect in the country, Reese will be the highest ranked prospect Arizona women’s basketball has ever signed. The Cypress, Texas native was named TABC 6A All-State two times during her high school career at Cypress Woods High School. Last year, the 6’3″ forward scored 22.3 points per game and grabbed 13.2 rebounds per game. She scored over 30 points three times with a season-high of 36. Additionally, she had a stretch of 13-straight double-doubles and had one 20/20 game where she scored 27 points and had 20 rebounds. Reese had three such games where she grabbed 20 rebounds with a season-high of 22. Her sophomore season was also dominant as she scored 20.8 points per game and averaged 12.8 rebounds per game. Not only is Reese a standout on the basketball court, but she is also a force on the volleyball court.
Smith was the first to commit to Arizona in the class of 2018. She is rated as a four-star forward by ProspectsNation.com as well as the No. 7 forward and the No. 48 player in the country. The Tacoma, Wash. native was named USA Today Honorable Mention All-Western Washington at Bellarmine Prep last year as she averaged 15.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, two steals and 1.6 blocks per game, helping her team to a third-place finish in the 4A State Tournament. The 6’1″ exceptionally athletic forward recorded 15 double-doubles last season with eight games of 20+ points and a season high of 24 (twice). One game stood out last year for Smith on the glass as she grabbed 25 rebounds with 13 of them on the offensive end.
Reese and Smith are two of Arizona’s five that signed National Letters of Intent. The other three, which make up the No. 4 recruiting class in the country by ProspectsNation.com, are Bryce Nixon, Semaj Smith and Valeria Trucco.
