Aussie teen sensation's record NCAA interest

• Fagan is the most sought-after Australian women’s basketball recruit in NCAA history
• The 17-year-old will soon cut her list of 26 Power 4 offers down to four finalists
• She continues to star for the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence while weighing her next step

Teen sensation Sitaya Fagan is about to make one of the biggest calls of her young career, and in Australian women’s basketball history.

The 6’4” big from Victoria holds offers from 26 NCAA Power Four programs, the highest number ever received by an Australian women’s player. It is interest on a scale rarely seen, with perhaps only Andrew Bogut and Ben Simmons attracting offers in Australian basketball history.

South Carolina, LSU, Texas, UCLA, Arizona and Louisville are just some of the powerhouse names chasing her signature. Now the17-year-old must narrow the list to four.

“It’s going to be a big decision,” Fagan told basketball.com.au earlier this year.

“Louisville was my first official offer, and I was almost screaming. I was like no freaking way and then they just kept coming.

“My mum is a teacher, so I'm big on 50-50 with basketball and education.

"Having offers from those top programs that are also top in education, it’s just really good.”

Her rise has been rapid. A year ago, she could not imagine this level of interest.

That changed at last year’s FIBA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Mexico, where she led Australia in rebounding (6.4 per game) and ranked third in the tournament for blocks (two per game), having been on the basketball radar ever since

Fagan’s advisor, Aussie Basketball USA founder and director Sam Tomlinson, has no doubt about where Fagan’s potential lies.

“Sitaya is a generational talent on the rise. In Australian women’s basketball, the well-known names include Michelle Brogan, Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor, and Ezi Magbegor. Next up is Sitaya Fagan,” she said.

For Fagan, the transition to college should be smooth, having been in a college-like environment for two years, training and living alongside the country’s best juniors at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Now she faces the challenge of choosing the right program to match her ambitions on and off the court.

“You watch all the games on TV and you watch the head coaches, then all of a sudden you're on a call with them, it's surreal,” Fagan said.

“If you asked me five years ago if I go [to college], I'd probably have said no. After these past couple of years, especially with big names like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, it's just crazy."

"All the opportunities you get, how big women's basketball is now, I couldn't miss that opportunity.”

FAGAN'S FULL LIST OF OFFERS

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Louisville
• Mississippi State
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Texas Tech
• Kentucky
• LSU
• Michigan
• Virginia
• Baylor
• Syracuse
• USC
• Cal Berkeley
• Michigan State
• Miami (Florida)
• UCLA
• North Carolina
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• Arizona State
• SMU
• Florida
• Texas A&M
• Oregon

Fagan and the CoE will be in action on Saturday when they take on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NBL1 East women's final at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre on August 16.