Valley Vista High School is an Arizona basketball power in girl's basketball in the state of Arizona, behind the excellent leadership of Head Coach Rachel Matakas. Matakas has built the Valley Vista program into one of the top girl's basketball programs in the country, as the program has won the 6A State Championship (3) of the last (4) years in Arizona. A major reason for the recent success of the program has been the strong overall play of 6-foot-1 rising senior forward Marisa Davis. After a strong junior season, where she led the program to another state title, Davis has now given a big verbal commitment to a PAC-12 program.
This weekend, after mulling over her many recruiting options for college, and missing out on a lot of competition this spring and summer due to the COVID pandemic, Davis decided to end her college recruitment - giving a verbal commitment to the University of Washington and Head Coach Jody Wynn and her coaching staff.
Davis is set to have a huge senior season, when the season does take place for 2020-2021, as she was the catalyst for last year's state title, and is one of the state's premier players and overall scorers of the basketball. As a junior, Davis averaged 22 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals per/game. While Davis is on a a very loaded team of college prospects, she will return for her senior season at Valley Vista with her college decision now behind her - giving her an opportunity to attempt to lead her program to another big season. When you consider that Valley Vista has almost every member from last year's team coming back, this up-and-coming season will be another special one for Coach Matakas and her Monsoon.
Davis is a special talent, as she is a skilled performer that can score inside and out. She has an excellent mid-range game, which allows her to catch and face the basket, then make strong drives to the basket, where she is an excellent finisher. She attacks the basket with vigor and does not mind physical contact from defenders. She can finish with either hand around the basket, making her very effective in the lane. She also has a soft touch from the perimeter and is able to shoot from a stand-still position, or on a jump-shot over defenders.
Davis is a strong ball handler and is very good while slashing on drives to the basket or in the open floor, where she is able to create shots for herself or teammates while on the move. She sees the floor and enjoys pushing the basketball ahead to the open teammate - something Coach Matakas teaches all of her players to do. Davis is also a strong and active rebounder, and is a force that is capable of playing several positions on the floor - giving her team excellent versatility as a player.
Davis is a Top 150 prospect in America's 2023 Class, and is well deserving of a Top 100 ranking by national scouts and media. Our Arizona Preps' staff looks forward to watching her have a huge senior season for the Monsoon, in preparation for her college career for the Huskies.
Congratulations to her and her family, as well as Coach Matakas and her Valley Vista coaching staff on this amazing accomplishment. Our Arizona Preps' staff will also look forward to watching her and the Valley Vista team compete in this year's 22nd Annual Arizona Preps Fall Showcase.
