Four Ducks in the Oregon women’s basketball six-member 2016 recruiting class have earned nominations to the McDonald’s All-American Games, the organization announced on Monday.
The nominees include Sierra Campisano, Ruthy Hebard, Jayde Woods and Mallory McGwire.
All four Ducks are ranked in espnW’s Top-100 rankings among 2016 players nationwide.
Oregon head coach Kelly Graves took to Twitter to congratulate the program’s future Ducks, which are part of a “program-defining” recruiting class for UO. The class — which also includes Morgan Yaeger and Lydia Giomi — is ranked No. 7 nationally, according to espnW.
Graves said it was exciting to see such a large number of his incoming recruits recognized nationally.
“Those are some decorated players,” Graves said after Wednesday’s practice. “I’d like to think a couple of them have a legitimate shot of making the team. They’re all deserving. Like I said, this is a tremendous group.”
Campisano, who watched Oregon’s loss to UCLA over the weekend, said she’s seen “leaps and bounds” improvement in the current team, which faces No. 11 Oregon State in back-to-back games this weekend.
“It’s so exciting and nice to see my hard work pay off,” Campisano said. “I think it’s great how many of our signees got it. It’s great that a bunch of us are on the list.”
Campisano recently tallied her 2,000th point for Torrey Pines HS and posted 44 points and 16 rebounds in last week’s win.
Hebard’s West Valley High School team is off to a 3-1 start. She’s averaging 23 points a game and 14.5 rebounds so far.
Woods and the Windward High School team are off to a 7-4 start after a strong showing at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona.
McGwire’s high school team is off a 14-1 start and she’s averaging 12.5 points per game and 11.5 rebounds.
A final list of 24 players will be named in the McDonald’s All-American Selection Show on Jan. 17, which will air at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
The McDonald’s All-American game — held annually in Chicago — is on March 30 and will also air live on ESPNU.
“I think it’s a little peak into the future of what will happen at Oregon if we’re already nominated for that,” Campisano said of the shortlist. “We have so much potential and we’re going to get so much better.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne