Ari McCurry

Senior Ari McCurry, who will soon begin her third year as a varsity girls basketball player at Roseville High School, has committed to Rice University recently after receiving scholarship offer.

According to McCurry, playing for a competitive team over the summer allowed her to gain exposure for several college programs.

“Playing on club teams is really helpful to student athletes trying to get scholarships for sports,” McCurry said. “The more you play, outside of school basketball, the more recognized you get by schools.”

For McCurry, offers started rolling in her junior year. McCurry immediately knew that Rice was a school she was interested in, as she knew that not only was it a prestigious academic university, but also that the girls basketball team had recently won the Women’s Basketball Invitational and had had multiple strong recruiting classes leading up to this year. While all of those things played a role in her decision, the icing on the cake was the campus.

“Right when I got on campus for my official visit, I loved the campus,” McCurry said. “I fell in love. I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”

Along with the campus, one of the biggest pulls for McCurry was the school’s medical program. McCurry hopes to use the medical school to her advantage, and hopefully become a doctor.

“I want to be a doctor, and Rice seemed like one of the best opportunities for me,” McCurry said. “They have one of the biggest medical centers right next door, and I mean it’s Rice University.”

McCurry’s long time teammate and friend, senior Bailey Bowen-Seay, knew that McCurry had what it takes to play at the next level.

“It was very exciting to hear about Ari’s good news because we’ve been playing together since the seventh grade,” Bowen-Seay said. “She puts in work not just on the court but in school too and I think she’s been a huge asset to our team just as she will be for Rice.”

Kylie Granno

After an impressive year in which she helped lead the varsity girls soccer team to a section championship, junior Kylie Granno has committed to Saint Mary’s. Granno committed to St. Mary’s over other schools, such as Chico, Dominican, SDSU, USF and Sonoma State.

Granno knew she loved Saint Mary’s, and without even taking an official visit, decided on St. Mary’s “Saint Mary’s was is in my top five when I first began,” Granno said. “I didn’t know if I was going to go D1, but when they came up and talked to me, I realized I could go D1 and all my attention was focused there.”

Granno has family in the area around the school, which also influenced her decision to commit there.

“I have family in that area so being close to family that I don’t always see a lot was nice,” Granno said. “It’s a beautiful area and I know I would have a great time being there.”

During the offseason, Granno plays for the local competitive team, California Blues. The Blues are one of the most best teams in the Roseville area, and allowed her to play in some select tournaments, like Surf Cup.

The Surf Cup is a summer showcase in San Diego, which yields over 400 college coaches each year that attend and scout future players. Teams from six different countries and sixteen different states participate in the tournament,

Granno has been hoping to be recruited since her freshman year, and was happy to commit.

“Leading up to everything is super stressful because it’s your future,” Granno said. “It’s really exciting to know I’m committed and the stress has come down.”

Junior Kelsey Gill, who has been playing with Granno the last four years, has seen constant improvement in Granno’s game and believes she is deserving of her scholarship.

“I think she’ll do great in college,” Gill said. “She works really hard in practice and I know she’ll keep scoring and defending well in college.”