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Heading for the Pac-10 Comet basketball standouts Amy Denson and Sarah Pool give verbal commitments to Arizona State and California respectively CENTRAL POINT - The first day of practice is still a month away, but the Crater girls basketball team already has good news aplenty. Senior stars Amy Denson and Sarah Pool, attempting to lead the Comets to a third straight Class 4A title game come winter, have orally committed to Pac-10 Conference women's basketball programs. Denson, a 6-foot forward who was selected second-team all-state as a junior, chose Arizona State after being sold during her official visit to the Tempe, Ariz., campus two weekends ago. "The area is awesome and the girls, too," says Denson, named first-team all-tournament for her part in Crater's runner-up finish behind Oregon City last season. "It was so much fun hanging out with them." Pool, a 5-6 point guard coming off honorable mention all-state recognition, found California's mix of academic and athletic prowess impossible to turn down. "It's the No. 1 public school in the nation, so, academically, you just can't beat it," says the 2001 second-team all-Class 4A tournament selection. "It's one of the most prestigious universities in the world." Both girls are expected to sign letters-of-intent on Nov. 14, the first day of the signing period. Comets coach David Heard, trying to guide Crater to its first-ever state championship this season after three runner-up finishes during his tenure, is pleased as can be with both girls' decisions. "I was pretty heavily involved throughout the process," Heard says of the nationwide recruiting of both Denson and Pool. "The thing that really swayed (Denson) was her visit." As for Pool, "This gives her a chance to be in the Pac-10 and be close to home," Heard says. Starting with an initial list that numbered in the hundreds, Denson narrowed her finalists to six - ASU, Oregon, Cal-Santa Barbara, Iowa, Utah and UCLA. A post in the Comets' system, Denson is considered a player who could play either forward spot, in the post or on the perimeter, at the Division I level. During her trip to Tempe, Denson and her mother became convinced that the Sun Devils were the team for her. Denson called her father and Heard the night before her scheduled departure, then made her oral commitment the next morning. "In the recruiting process, you end up knowing all the coaches pretty well, all the programs pretty well," Heard says. "It comes down to your gut feeling you get when you go there. "She went there, and she was so excited about it. I told her to trust her instincts." Wilsonville's Jill Noe, the Class 3A player of the year as a junior last season, has also committed to sixth-year coach Charli Turner Thorne and the ASU program. The Sun Devils, coming off a 20-12 season that featured a share of their first Pac-10 crown, already boast Oregon natives Betsy Boardman of Beaverton and Carrie Buckner of Corvallis' Crescent Valley on their roster. "(ASU) just fits me," Denson says. "They put such a challenge on the players and work really hard." Pool, who owns a 3.9 grade-point average and plans to major in clinical psychology, chose Cal over UCLA, Utah, Northwestern and Oregon State, among others. She committed in July to second-year coach Caren Horstmeyer's program but didn't make her official visit until early September. "It's so much greener than I thought," Pool says of the Berkeley campus. "I'm gonna learn so much there." The Golden Bears were 12-16 overall and 8-10 in the Pac-10 last season. "The coaching staff's background is incredible," Pool says. "It became a dream (to play in the Pac-10). ... The Pac-10's such an amazing conference." Crater begins its season Dec. 4 with a non-conference game at Springfield. Heard says the Comets will probably start practicing Nov. 7. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.