Grandview junior in no recruiting hurry

AURORA, Colo. -- [player_tooltip player_id="117679" first="Marya" last="Hudgins"] is being recruited, knows a little about recruiting and will certainly deal with recruiting … but not for a while. The Grandview junior, who came from Holy Innocents’ Episcopal High in Atlanta, Ga., after her freshman season, has a couple of schoolgirl seasons to complete and will take her time choosing a college. And she’ll enjoy it. “I have a lot of great schools recruiting me,” she said. “I’m not making a final decision any time soon.” Really, she added, “I’m not trying to rush it. I just want to wait and make my visits.” She’ll take her five permitted official visits and add a few on her own. In the meantime, Hudgins will enjoy her game and evolvement as a player. A 6-foot –“I’m 6-1 in sneakers, so I’ll take 6-1,” she said – forward who can both post up and play on the perimeter, Hudgins’ basketball IQ includes moving the ball and setting up without it. When she and her family were in the process of moving to Colorado because of parental employment, the Hudgins family also checked out Mullen, a Lasallian  Prep school, before opting for Grandview. She had gone back-and-forth between publics and privates, and the Wolves were already loaded as well as a recognized Colorado power. “She’s a great kid, the nicest kid in the world,” Grandview head coach Josh Ulitzky said. “She’s super-energetic, a good student and can really shoot it.” Ulitzky pointed to the 5 3-pointers she made in the Class 5A semifinals against Valor Christian, a 49-42 victory in which the Wolves trailed by a point entering the fourth quarter. “They were big shots,” he said. For 2019-20, Hudgins averaged 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists as Grandview was 24-3. Hudgins also made the transition to a public program that already boasts [player_tooltip player_id="95167" first="Lauren" last="Betts"], the touted 6-7 junior recognized as the top player in her class nationally, and the 6-5 [player_tooltip player_id="95122" first="Addison" last="O’Grady"], who has since committed to Iowa. Said Ulitzky: “She’s interesting, a talented kid getting into the situation, immersing herself into it. She doesn’t care who you are and she’s kind of tough.” For her part, Hudgins said of the transition “It was awesome, I loved it. It definitely was a bit difficult and I moved five weeks into the school year. It was a bit tough, but all of the girls were so welcoming.” Grandview lost three key guards, so Hudgins may have to demonstrate even more of her versatility in terms of ball-handling, directing traffic and switching from the blocks to the perimeter as needed. “It may take us a little bit,” Hudgins said, “but we’re up for that challenge. Our team is looking pretty great. I’m so excited. We want to make a statement this season.”