by Aaron Grayagray@digitalsports.comArundel High School junior Simone Egwu has verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Virginia.
The DigitalSports All-Anne Arundel County girls basketball Player of the Year made the decision two weeks ago when she visited the Charlottesville, Va. school for the second time with her family.
"I just wanted to commit as soon as possible," said Egwu, who averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds for a Wildcats squad that advanced to the Class 4A state championship and finished with a 22-6 record.
"Picking a college is a stressful decision and now that I've done it, I can just stayed focused on getting better."
Egwu, a 6-foot-3 forward, picked the Cavaliers over offers from George Washington, Florida, North Carolina and Notre Dame. Virginia is ranked No. 12 in the national preseason poll but it was the school's academic standing that appealed most to Egwu.
"It's the perfect fit for me," said Egwu, who took four advanced-placement classes this year and has four more planned for next year. "It's a great academic school and that's very important to me. The campus was beautiful and it just has everything I'm looking for in a college."
Egwu currently has a 4.6 grade-point average, is interested is studying political science in college and has aspirations of becoming a lawyer.
The Arundel standout shot 62.3 percent (172-for-276) from the field and a gaudy 83.5 percent (91-for-109) from the free-throw line this past year for the Wildcats. She notched 1,000 career points during the team's playoff run and was instrumental in Arundel's berth in the state championship. Expectations will still be high for her when she returns for her final year at the Gambrills school.
"A state championship is my immediate goal," Egwu said Thursday. "It's going to be nothing new for us. After losing this past year, we want it really bad."
Egwu will play for Boo Williams' elite under-16 AAU team this summer with multiple tournaments in Milwaukee, Florida and Georgia on the schedule. When she returns to Arundel this winter, the entire starting five from last season will be intact.
"What else can you say about Simone?" Wildcats coach Lee Rogers said. "She's keeps getting better every time she walks onto the court."