Tosa East’s Dallas closes in on choice
If life goes as Chloe Dallas plans, she'll one day help solve cases and bring criminals to justice.
The Wauwatosa East senior wants to study forensics, criminal justice or criminal psychology. The long-term goal is to become an FBI profiler, a reallife version of the characters seen on one of her favorite shows, Criminal Minds.
The first step down that path is selecting a college and as arguably the most sought-after senior girls basketball player in southeast Wisconsin, she has options.
Earlier this month she narrowed her choice of schools to five: Cleveland State, Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Kansas State and Morgan State.
A 6-foot-2 forward, Dallas averaged 16.6 points, nine rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for Tosa East last season. Playing on a team that went 5-19 overall and was winless in the Greater Metro Conference, Dallas played far from the spotlight but made a name for herself with her strength and the presence she created inside.
During the club season, she plays with a number of college prospects with Wisconsin Flight Elite, which plays on the Under Armour circuit.
“She's a really good transition basketball player,” said Nik Levy, the Flight Elite club director and Dallas' coach in the program. “Once she gets rebounds, she can dribble the ball out, push it. If a guard has the ball, she can lead the pack and transition that way.
“Defensively as well. She gets back really quick. She's a really good defender. In summer ball, she gets a chance to showcase how good of a defender she really is. She gets a chance to play against players who are really good post players and she has a chance to lock them up.
"I think what put her on a lot of people's radar is A, her ability to run the court and B, really defend."
Dallas' final five schools are a mix of programs. As members of the Pac-12 and Big 12, Colorado and Kansas State are part of high-major conferences. Cleveland State, a member of the Horizon League, has had success with local players and currently has former New Berlin Eisenhower standout Julia Hintz on the roster. Florida Atlantic, a member of Conference USA, is coached by former Marquette coach Jim Jabir. Morgan State is a historically black university.
Here are her some of Dallas' thoughts on each.
Cleveland State: “Their facility is nice. The coaches are nice, too. When Cleveland State had a Zoom call, I like the fact that their entire staff came on the phone. It wasn't just a few of the coaches. Their entire staff: the conditioning coach, the head coach, all the assistant coaches, the managers. Even a few players came on. I liked that. It seemed like they had a family environment.”
Colorado: “My mom loves them a lot. One of the coaches, (assistant) coach (Shandricka Lee) is for real. My mom talks to her every single day. We talk to her a lot and it's not all about basketball with her. I know the ball stops bouncing at some point. She would talk about life. Also when we had a Zoom call, their entire staff came on and they were right to the point.”
Florida Atlantic: “They have a good environment and the coaches really stuck out to me. Some recruiters say it all sounds the same, they all say the same the thing, but with Florida Athletic (assistant coach Terry Primm) was truthful all the way through. He didn't BS. He was like 'This is what it is. This is what it's going to be. If you don't do this, you're not the right fit. If you do this, you're going to get playing time.' That's the type of person I am. I don't like when people BS around.”
Kansas State: They also recruited a lot of girls from Wisconsin and I spoke to those girls. Before everything shut down, one of my former teammates went on a visit and said they loved the campus. They loved the staff. They have a freshman (Ayoka Lee) and she is in the range of where I play at. She was freshman of the week (12) times. She's doing great down there. It seems like they are building her up a lot, They're helping her get better as a player."
Morgan State: “They were the only HBCU that talked to me and wanted me as a recruit. They also had my major. They put me on the line with someone who went to the school and played basketball, same major, and got internships right away and is now in the field I want to be in. That is why they stuck out to me.”
With a heavy load of classes for the upcoming school year, Dallas hopes to have a decision well before the beginning of the early signing period, which is Nov. 11-18.
When she does sign, she'll become the second Tosa East player in two years to go Division I. Brooklyn Blackburn was part of UW-Green Bay's 2018 class.
“I know the staffs are calling and texting and I'm still trying get feel for how they are. Chemistry-type stuff,” Dallas said. “I'm talking to a lot of team members from the college because I'll be spending every day with these people. I hate drama, so I need a team that has the same goal and wants to get better with each other.”