Sara Hammond, a 6-foot-2 forward, had a commanding summer that led her elevation to No. 12 in the 2011 class by ESPN HoopGurlz.
The fact that Sarah Hammond scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference to announce her college choice, inviting media and thus attention, is grossly out of character. But what she finally started to believe this summer is that her choice, a verbal commitment to Louisville, is in fact a big deal.
The 6-foot-2 forward from Mount Vernon, Ky., took her sweet time realizing how talented she really was. Leading her Rockcastle County High School team to its first-ever Kentucky Final Four didn't even do the trick, nor did being ranked in the top 30 of the original ESPNU HoopGurlz 100 in April of 2010.
The Louisville Cardinals began recruiting the rising star just after she completed her freshman year, as she started her club ball with Blue Chip Elite. She later finished her club career with Kentucky Premier.
In her first years with Blue Chip she played with current Kentucky sophomore A'dia Mathies. The 5-foot-9 guard had a tremendous freshman season for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors last year. With a point of reference, the budding star began to believe.
Fast-forward to July 2010, a month that not only earned her the No. 12 ranking in the 2011 class according to ESPN HoopGurlz, but it was the call from a certain program -- one that has won a few national titles and rarely hears "no thanks" in recruiting -- that elevated Hammond's confidence.
That program just happened to be Connecticut and both Hammond and her father, Eddie, said they were humbled and excited by the interest and enjoyed the discussions with head coach Geno Auriemma.
"I never thought I was good enough for UConn," Hammond said, citing the tradition of No. 1 players and All-Americans, along with the programs seven national titles.
Hammond slowly started to change her opinion of herself. She began putting the pieces together and the signs pointed to a pretty special player. Her talent began to draw trash talk from other teams, like a team from Ohio at AAU Nationals that had a prominent player call her out before the game, only to draw one of the best games of Hammond's career, according to her father.
Though Hammond's hype has grown, her modesty continues. Sure she would like to be Miss Basketball for Kentucky and would be appreciative and excited for consideration for postseason All-American honors, yet she seems genuine when she says she's neither expecting it nor redirecting her sights beyond getting her high school team to the state championship game.
Hammond's first college offer was from Louisville, after her freshman year. The Cardinals have been straightforward about what she would mean to the program and have never waivered.
"[Louisville] rolled out the proverbial red carpet," Hammond's father, Eddie Hammond, said.
"They seemed to recruit me the hardest," Hammond said.
Hammond loves the bond she has formed with the Louisville coaches, especially head coach Jeff Walz.
There is also something to be said for Kentucky pride. Though Hammond said she didn't feel any pressure to pick an in-state school, she did say she felt a sense of satisfaction in staying in-state and keeping the best players home. In addition, she loves the fact that friends and family in her small eastern Kentucky hometown can make the two-and-a-half hour drive to see her play home games.
Hammond has followed Louisville's recruiting and is excited to be a part of a team that will have enough depth in the front court that she won't have to play as a back-to-the-basket player as she does in high school. She is also excited to play with the fantastic guards the program signed in 2010 -- Shoni Schimmel and Charmaine Tav.
Hammond doesn't mind those other big-name prospects getting the attention and love, even at the next level, if it means Louisville duplicating the success of two seasons' ago when it reached the NCAA championship game.
"I'm driven. I'm really competitive," Hammond said. "I have the attitude of always wanting to win. Losing is not a good option for me."
With the talent being assembled in Louisville, losing doesn't seem likely.
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