Central Methodist women's basketball adds another Valley product

WASILLA — The Central Methodist University women’s basketball program is fresh off a conference championship and trip to the NAIA Division I national tournament. As the Eagles prepare to defend their Heart of America Conference title and work to remain a nationally-ranked NAIA program, CMU associate head coach Greg Ray said there’s a certainly quality the coaching staff is looking for in recruits.

Toughness.

And he knows right were to find it.

Ray, a former longtime youth basketball coach in the Mat-Su Valley, has tapped his old home once again, and is bringing another Valley product to the Fayette, Missouri, school. Amanda Hutchins, a 2014 graduate of Wasilla High School, has committed to CMU and will play for the Eagles next fall.

“The reason we brought Amanda down (for a visit), we’ve got a lot of talent on this team, but there’s not a lot of toughness,” Ray said recently. “As me about the Alaska kids, the main reason I like them is they know adversity. They know how to fight through the tough times.”

Entering his fifth season as an assistant coach in the program, Ray has had success recruiting Alaska talent. The 2015-16 edition of the Eagles, which won a conference title and competed in the national tournament, featured a pair of Valley players. Sophomore DaJonee Hale, a 2013 Burchell High School graduate and former Houston High standout, earned conference player of the year and NAIA first-team All-American honors. Senior Saige Stefanski, a 2012 graduate of Colony High School, served a key role off the bench. Both players helped CMU evolve from a team picked to finish seventh in the preseason conference poll to a program that won a conference title.

Ray hopes to continue that magic with Hutchins, a winner at the high school and junior college level. Hutchins was part of a Wasilla High School girls’ basketball program that captured 4A state titles during her sophomore and junior seasons. During her two seasons at Peninsula College, a Northwest Athletic Conference junior college program in Port Angeles, Washington, who squad competed in two straight NWAC title games. Hutchins was a freshman on a Pirates team that won the title in 2015. In a return trip to the championship, Peninsula finished second earlier this spring.

Ray likened Hutchins to Stefanski, who moved to CMU after two years with the NWAC’s Walla Walla Community College. Both players may have flown a bit under the recruiting radar, but each brings a great value to a program.

“When she came out of high school, she was not highly recruited. But she’s one of those kids. She’s been playing since an early age. She loves the game,” Ray said.

Ray said Hutchins, a 5-foot-9 guard, provides the toughness, character and work ethic CMU desires.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.