St. Mary's High School's 5-foot-11 senior guard/forward Shilpa Tummala (Harvard University commit) is among the elite talents in the state of Arizona, and also the country.
Tummala is currently rated among the top 100 prospects nationally by HoopGurlz.com, as she is rated #68 nationally among the nation's 2012 senior class.
Tummala gained her top national ranking through serious hard work and commitment to her game, and, of course, through her performance throughout the spring and summer on the girl's national club circuit while competing with her club program - the Arizona Warriors. This past spring and summer, Tummala traveled all over the country with many of her St. Mary's HS teammates, and flat out got it done in a major way against the nation's top competition.
As a result of Tummala's exceptional play this off-season, she earned more than 50 division-I scholarship offers from schools across the country. After carefully looking over her options for college, Tummala would finally narrow down her list of schools this fall to California, USC, Georgetown and Harvard.
"She handled all of the recruiting herself," said Tummala's father, Shakur Tummala. "She made her own decision."
With heavy interest from almost every division-I program in America, Tummala eventually made up her mind to go to Harvard University.
"She really liked their coaching staff there," said Tummala's father. Tummala advised me that his daughter was very focused on schools that provided a strong balance of academics and athletics, with academics being the major focus.
Now with her college recruiting behind her this season, Tummala has been able able to turn her attention towards winning a second consecutive state championsip, after leading her team to last year's state title and a 28-2 overall record on the season.
The St. Mary's Knights enter the 2011-2012 high school basketball season with as many as 8 different division-I prospects on the team, and a #1 ranking in the state. More importantly, the Knights are currently rated by ESPN's Hoopgurlz as the #2 high school team in the nation.
Tummala is a major reason for the Knight's national attention this season, as she is a big-time shooter with excellent size and a nice feel for the game. Her nice physical size as a guard creates match-up problems for opposing guards, and her excellent feel for the game makes her a versatile performer. Tummala also has an unselfish spirit on the floor, which forces her teammates to move without the basketball and makes her a joy to coach.
At the collegiate level, Tummala will see the majority of her time at the off-guard position and should have a very strong future ahead of her. Look for Tummala to gain All-Conference attention as a collegiate.
This young lady has an excellent attitude on and off the floor and is a major reason for the tremendous amount of attention that has been given to the St. Mary's HS program. The exceptional amount of college recruitment that was generated by Tummala, will and has affected the St. Mary's basketball program, as well as the state of Arizona. More girls in the state of Arizona will see their individual college recruitment take off now, and in the future, as a result of Tummala's recruitment.
What is scary about Tummala is that she is only 17 years of age still, and should only be a junior prospect still. She skipped a grade early on in her academic life, as a result of her exceptional academic performance.
Tummala is the younger sister of former Brophy Prep star forward and current University of Michigan basketball player, Sai Tummala.
Tummala is among the top students in her class as well, and carries better than a 4.0 CUM GPA.
