Moore's Aaliyah Moore signs with Texas Heritage Hall's Park inks with Arizona State
"A sweet ending to a new beginning" are the words that decorated A aliyah Moore' s table along with the Texas Longhorn logo and family photos.
A aliyah, the highly recruited Moore High School forward, sported a big smile and breathed a sigh of relief after she officially signed with Texas on Wednesday.
“It's an awesome feeling,” Aaliyah said after finishing her long recruiting journey. “I can't wait to spend the next four years at Texas.”
But the decision to join Texas wasn't only basketball-related. Aaliyah saw Texas as a great opportunity to pursue her professional goals after basketball.
“They have their own Long horn Network; I want to be a sportscaster,” Aaliyah said, describing her excitement to shadow journalists like ESPN's Maria Taylor. “On t he court, excellent coaches. Their system is perfect for me, I'll fit right in. They're all about hard work and family and just loving one another and that's me. It's a perfect fit.”
Aaliyah averaged 21.7 points and 11.1 rebounds a game to lead Moore to the Class 6A state tournament, the program's first state appearance in 22 years. ESPN ranks the gold medalist and Oklahoma's 2019-20 Gatorade Player
of the Year at No. 6 in the 2021 class.
Edmond Memorial's Pedulla signs with Virginia Tech
Once Sean P ed ulla got to visit Blacksburg, Virginia, his mind was set.
The senior guard at Edmond Memorial signed with Virginia Tech after a wildly successful spring and summer saw his recruitment take off. Yet after a visit to the
Hokies' campus nearly two months ago, he knew where he wanted to play college basketball.
“I couldn' t really say no to that place ,” Pedulla said .“It was a nice atmosphere, easy to get around. I really liked it as soon as I got up there.”
He committed shortly after the visit and now shifts his focus to trying to lead Edmond Memorial back to the state tournament.
No one in Oklahoma has ever done what Helen Park did Wednesday.
The senior at Heritage Hall signed with Arizona State lacrosse, becoming the first female athlete from Oklahoma to ever sign a Division-I lacrosse scholarship.
Park got into lacrosse in 7th grade when she made a boys team in Dallas called Ironhorse. Her growth continued, and she made the Korean National Team at the 2019 U-19 Lacrosse World Cup and was the second leading scorer for the entire tournament.
As a junior, Park made the Under Armour AllAmerican Team for the Southwest Region. Now she's heading to Arizona to continue her lacrosse journey.
Birdie barrage
A couple of the state's top golfers also signed to local schools today.
Christian Heritage' s Drew Goodman, ranked the top boys prospect, signed with O U. He has won three straight OJGT/ TJGT Red River Challenge events, which pits the best golfers from Oklahoma and Texas against one another.
Kingfisher' s Mad di K am as, the top girls golfer in the state, signed with Oklahoma City University. She won the Women's Oklahoma Golf Association Stroke Play championship this summer along with numerous other tournaments and helped Team Oklahoma to a win in the girls Red River Challenge. Kamas was The Oklahoman's 2019 All-City Golfer of the Year.
Edmond North senior Jordan Wilson still plans to sign with Oklahoma State but wasn't able to Wednesday because he was out of town.
Cameron Jourdan and James D. Jackson, Staff writers