With her college plans solidified, Tucson High’s Alexis Cortez can focus on her senior season and making up for last year’s disappointing finish.
The 5-foot-11-inch senior wing signed to play basketball at East Carolina on Sunday afternoon in a ceremony at the Badgers’ gym.
“It’s a great feeling,” Cortez said, “just to come into my season and already have it done, already be signed and know where I’m going and be able to just have fun in the year."
Cortez verbally committed in May and made it official during the early signing period, which concluded Wednesday. Several athletes from around the Tucson area signed letters of intent, scroll down for a complete list.
East Carolina went 22-11 in 2014-15 and the school – based in Greenville, North Carolina – is in its second year in the American Conference.
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“I’m expecting big things from her,” said Tucson girls basketball coach Annette Gutierrez. “I think this is going to be a load off of her for a little bit, it’s such a pressure situation being recruited heavily as she has been.”
Cortez is ranked as the 25th best guard by ESPN. As a junior, she averaged 25.2 points, 2.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game.
However, Tucson’s season ended much earlier than expected, with an upset loss to Maricopa by two points in the second round of the Division II state tournament. The Badgers were the No. 5 seed and had won 14 straight games heading into the matchup; 12th-seeded Maricopa went on to win its first state championship.
“It will help me a lot, because I won’t have to stress about it I can just focus on where we left it off last year,” Cortez said about signing. “It’s a year of redemption, that’s what we say as a team and we want to win really bad and that’s all I’m really focused on and signing this early allows me to do that.”
#TucsonHigh girls basketball star Alexis Cortez on her signing day #azhs pic.twitter.com/vH9NsVm7gH
— High School Sports (@HSTucson) November 15, 2015Gutierrez said it was so nice to see Cortez’s hard work and dedication come to fruition on Sunday.
“Alexis Cortez has definitely stepped up her game every year,” Gutierrez said. “All the late nights and the extra shooting and the stuff that she does on the outside of practice, during the season and offseason, plays a role in where she is today.”
SOUTHERN ARIZONA SIGNINGS
CATALINA FOOTHILLS – Alexis Belkoff, gymnastics, Sacramento State University; Katie Watson, cross-country/track, St. Mary’s College of California.
CANYON DEL ORO – Brenna Griesser, softball, Boston College; Randi Longville, softball, Arizona Christian; Tristan Peterson, baseball, Kansas State.
FLOWING WELLS – Sierra Rodriguez, track and field, Air Force.
IRONWOOD RIDGE – Reina Bondi, softball, UNLV; Skyler Bracety, softball, Crowder College; Kelsey Buechler, softball, Colorado School of Mines; Kelly Decker, softball, Fort Lewis College; Jake Engel, baseball, Dixie State University; Nick Estrella, baseball, Azusa Pacific University; Loriann Olson, softball, Grand Canyon University; Alexis Ranieri, softball; West Texas A&M University; Baylie Stephens, volleyball, Yavapai College; Danny Vega, wrestling, Grand Canyon University.
RINCON/UNIVERSITY – Mackenzie Rod, softball, Embry-Riddle (Prescott); Brendan Rumel, basketball, Portland State University.
SABINO – Brianna Pitre, basketball, University of Texas Rio Grande.
SAHUARITA – Austin Bryan, baseball, New Mexico State University.
SALPOINTE CATHOLIC – Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage, softball, Grand Canyon University; Robby Campillo, baseball, University of New Mexico.
SIERRA VISTA BUENA – Briggs Duce, golf, Arizona.
TUCSON HIGH – Alexis Cortez, basketball, East Carolina University; Anthony Negrete, soccer, Cal State Bakersfield; Antony Siaha, soccer, Cal State Bakersfield; Mia Sokolowski, volleyball, Florida.
WALDEN GROVE: Rachel Carrell, soccer, Point Loma Nazarene University; Sarah Carrell, soccer, Arizona Christian University; Malia Vanisi, soccer, University of New Mexico.
OTHER LOCAL SIGNEES – Maddie Pothoff, tennis, Alabama.
See someone missing from the list? Let us know by e-mailing their name, sport and the school they signing with to dgaona@tucson.com.
