BOTHELL — It’s not often that a high school basketball team has two players make commitments to play NCAA Division 1 basketball, but the Lynnwood Royals are no ordinary team.
Seniors Mikayla Pivec and Jordyn Edwards, who helped lead the Royals to the first girls basketball state championship in school history in March, each signed letters of intent last week – Pivec to play at Oregon State and Edwards to play at Colorado State. Their decisions were celebrated Wednesday with a ceremony in the Lynnwood High School library.
“I’m very proud of both of the girls,” said Lynnwood head coach Everett Edwards, who is also Jordyn’s father. “Not only are they leaders athletically, but they’re also leaders academically and they’re also leaders of our team. I’m very proud of both Jordyn and Mikayla.”
Having two players moving on to play D-1 college basketball is another example of the turnaround that has taken place at Lynnwood under Coach Edwards. In eight seasons he has transformed the Royals from a team that commonly lost more games than it won into perennial state championship contenders.
“It’s a sign that we have great student-athletes here at Lynnwood and it’s a sign that we have a good strong program,” Coach Edwards said. “Hopefully with them kind of setting the stage, we’ll have other kids that will aspire to continue to play at that next level.”
Pivec, the 2014-15 Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year, said she made her decision to attend Oregon State two weeks ago after taking official visits to her top three choices, which also included the University of Washington and Stanford.
“It was a hard decision because I’d built relationships with all the other coaches and it was hard to say no because people had treated me very well,” Pivec said. “I just thought Oregon State was the best choice for me.”
The Beavers won the Pac-12 regular-season championship last season, ending Stanford’s 14-year reign as either champion or co-champion.
Edwards chose Colorado State in mid-August. She had originally planned to visit New Mexico State, Colorado State, Utah, Boise State and Long Beach, but after visiting Colorado State second she canceled her remaining visits.”
“Before even the visit, I got a chance to talk to the coaches on the phone and they really set a good impression,” Jordyn Edwards said. “They were really nice and easy to talk to. Once I went on my official visit, I loved the environment. I know they have snow and I like snow and the weather and the mountains and everything. Other than that, I got to meet most of the players and they were really, really nice and very genuine.”
Both Pivec and Edwards have been told they will have the opportunity to contribute as freshmen, but will have to earn their playing time.
Pivec, who celebrated her 18th birthday Wednesday, and Edwards have both kept a positive view of the recruiting process despite the stress it can cause.
“Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming when you have people calling you,” Pivec said. “I’ve tried to think that I’m blessed to be in this position because not very many people get to experience that.”
Pivec is also grateful she got to go through the process with Edwards, who is one of her best friends.
“It was cool to share that with her because we’ve played on the same team for so long and shared a lot of great memories together,” Pivec said. “It’s nice to have somebody that’s kind of in the same boat as you and to be able to ask her questions about how she’s feeling when she’s dealing with that process too.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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