Yates signs with women's basketball

                Alyssa Yates knows what it takes to get better at basketball. The 5-foot-10 put lots of hours in the gym during and out of season.

                That hard work has landed her a scholarship to play for Coach Dave Harnish and the women’s basketball. Yates signed a letter of intent on April 30 and is excited to be continuing her basketball career.

                “Coach contacted me and he wanted me to come down for a visit,” Yates said. “I came down and I really liked it here. This area is definitely different, but I like the feeling of it. It seems like a good community and that is what I was looking for in a college.”

                Yates played basketball at Northwest Christian High School in Spokane, Wash., and has worked with many Division I players and coaches from around the Spokane region.

                “Living in the Spokane area has given me the opportunity to practice with some of the greatest Gonzaga women’s players to date.  I was able to get several workouts with Courtney Vandersloot before she was drafted by Chicago’s WNBA team,” Yates said on her recruiting page. “Courtney helped me with my vision of the game, ball handling and one on one game against her.  I also worked with Heather Bowman who holds the West Coast Conference scoring record.  Heather helped me with post game and how to work inside with larger post since I am only 5-10. I do not play a lot of post, but she really helped when I do. 

“My strength coach, Peter Faletto trained Angie Byorkland who was formally with the University of Tennessee.  My longest coach I have had is my shooting coach, John Morrison.  He coached his son Adam Morrison formally with the Charlotte Bobcats and the L.A. Lakers.”

Yates is averaged about 12 points a game in high school and six rebounds. She started both seasons at Northwest Christian and a captain her senior year. She was more of a guard, but can play inside as a forward. She averaged about three 3-pointers a game.

Yates transferred to NWC her junior year and helped the team to back-to-back state tournament appearances. In the post season, she led her team in scoring and earned back-to-back scholastic awards. She was also presented the coach’s award at the team banquet.

Yates said she has always wanted to play college ball since she started playing in the fifth grade. Her goal is to play at the Division II or Division I level. She said the only colleges she was looking at before WNCC called were Division III schools.

“I am definitely excited to playing here,” Yates said. “I always wanted to come to college for basketball. It is just something I always wanted to do since fifth grade.”

Yates, who is a pre-engineering major, said while coming here will be an adjustment, she is ready to improve her skills even more.

“It will definitely be a culture change, but I don’t think it will be too hard and I can adapt pretty well,” she said. “I just want to improve my skills, get better and move on to a four-year school after this. I am glad coach called and I think I will fit well here.”

Yates is the eighth recruit Harnish has signed for next year. The other seven include Torrington’s Mikayla Brower; Bridgeport’s Ashley Stevens; Katie Kerkhoff of Parker, Colo.; Simone Evans of Aurora, Colo.; Shalisa Moffit of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Maurissa Ortega of Erie, Colo.; and Lauren Russel Rivera of Colorado Springs, Colo.

                The Cougars return just three players from this year’s team in Jessica Aratani, Kelsey Doddridge, and Idil Ozbayrak.