Gayle 'Hooked'

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Mon, 09/10/2007 - 16:39 Ashley Gayle, who has been looking to move East, found out just how far on a visit this past weekend.

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Ashley Gayle had planned to take all five of her official visits, but, during her first, she was overcome by a sensations others had warned her about.

"People told me when you go to the right place, you will get some kind of feeling," said the 6-foot-5 post out of Las Vegas. "The first day I stepped on their campus, it just felt right. At first, I thought that, because it was being excited about my my first visit. But my whole time there, the feeling never changed."

The place this past weekend was Austin, home of the Texas Longhorns and its new coach Gail Goestenkors, who hooked her first major recruit. Ranked No. 40 overall in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com, Gayle chose Texas over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kansas and Cal. She had official visits scheduled with the four runners-up, but made the call to Goestenkors today, joining Ashleigh Fontenette, 5-10 guard out of Austin, in Texas' 2008 recruiting class.

Gayle had a strong summer, particularly at the end, a finishing flourish she attributes to a coaching change on her club team which offered her a new slate.

In Gayle, Goestenkors and Texas are adding a dimension they presently do not possess - a legitimate inside presence. Gayle is strong and athletic, and quick off the floor, which makes her a force on defense as a shot-blocker and on the glass. She has her moments offensively, with fallway jumpers from the short corners and straight-up jumpers to the free-throw line, but is more of a work in progress at that end.

"I've always been known more as a defensive player," Gayle said. "My goal is to have my offense catch up to my defense before long."

Gayle's mother, Patricia Norman, already had decided to relocate after her daughter graduated from Bishop Norman High School. And Austin already was at the top of her cities to which she thought she might move. As such, Gayle and Norman will remain joined for another four years.

Like her mother, Gayle had tired of Las Vegas and the West. Cal was in her mix, she said, because of its academic and because her former club coach, Kevin Morrison, is an assistant there. She mostly was destined to move East, however.

"If I'm going to spend four years somewhere," Gayle said, "I might as well see something new and different."

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Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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