Saint Mary's make an early offer to 2018 prospect Milly Yates
Milly Yates, a dynamic scorer out of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) has received a scholarship offer from Saint Mary's College, a school with a long tradition of recruiting Australian talent.
2018 prospect Yates (born in 1999) has been a fixture in NSW Metro teams at Australian Junior Championships; twice at U16 level and again in 2015 at U18 event as a bottom age player. She will again be eligible to represent her state at U18 level in 2016.
At the recent NSW U18 state championship, she was the tournament's overall highest point scorer as she led her team to the championship with a 57-56 victory in the final. It was Yates' fourth straight state title with her club, the Norths Bears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmFpjdLODSw
Yates' potential has also been recognised at national senior level, being selected to the 2014 WNBL Sydney Uni Flames development squad.
Her current school coach, Renae Camino, a former WNBL and Australian national team representative, spoke glowingly of her protégé.
"Milly is an outstanding basketball player, with plenty of depth to her game. She is also a mature, intelligent athlete, who reads the game well beyond her years. Her commitment to improve and learn is also what sets her apart from the rest"
In following up on the early offer from the Gaels, she is planning to make an unofficial visit to Saint Mary’s at the end of her Basketball NSW NITP U18 tour to Texas and North Carolina in December this year. It is expected she will attend Saint Mary’s first conference game of the season against the San Francisco on 21 December and if all goes according to plan she will make an official visit early in 2016.
While Yates is likely to receive additional interest over the coming 2 years, the early offer and planned visits demonstrates the Gaels' commitment to nurturing their Australian talent pipeline. The Gael's enter the 2015/16 season featuring four Australians, including Lauren Nicholson, Hannah Kaser, Carly Turner and incoming freshman Megan McKay. Another two Australian standouts in Jasmine Forcadilla and Molly McPhee have already committed to the Gaels as part of their 2016 incoming class earlier this year.
Catch up on all of the latest Australian recruitment news here.