St. Mary's High School's 6-foot rising junior guard/forward Courtney Ekmark had an excellent sophomore season under her father, St. Mary's head coach Curtis Ekmark. The season was perfect for the Ekmark family and also the St. Mary's basketball program, as the team finished with a perfect 30-0 season record - winning the state's Division-I state championship for the second year in a row and also capping off a season where the Knights were the #1 ranked team in America.
The Knights would win this year's national championship, while also winning the tournament championship in the top division of this year's prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions.
Could the season get any better for Courtney Ekmark, one of the top prospects in the country in the 2014 class? Well it just got better, as Ekmark has decided on a future college program, and it just happened to be the top women's college basketball program in the country.
While being recruited heavily by the majority of top programs in the country, Ekmark has made her college decision and it came at the end of her sophomore season.
Ekmark found her fit and needed no more time to go through the recruiting process, as she gave an early verbal commitment to the University of Connecticut. Ekmark is currently rated as our #1 prospect in the state's 2014 class.
Ekmark was selected as a member of our 2012 Arizona Preps All-Arizona Team after a superb sophomore season where she helped lead the ultra-talented Knights on the season, among the team leaders in scoring, assists and steals - even though the Knight's program did not keep player statistics this season.
Ekmark was a major ingredient to this year's undefeated, national and state champion St. Mary's Knights. Her ability to stretch the defense consistently, her tenacity on the floor, as well as her unselfish approach to the game made the Knights absolutely unbeatable this high school season. As the youngest player on this year's very dominant Knight's team, Ekmark proved that she is well beyond her years this season.
Look for Ekmark to continue to work hard and develop nicely over the next two years of high school, while keeping her Knights among the top teams in the country.
Congratulations to the Ekmark family on an amazing high school season, and on this amazing honor which will bring more recruiting opportiunities to the state.
