High School Girls Basketball: Ridgeline's Emilee Skinner announces her commitment to Duke

Emilee Skinner, who ESPN ranks as the No. 7 recruit in the class of 2025, announced her commitment to Duke University Friday morning during a ceremony at Ridgeline High.

The 6-foot-10 point guard had narrowed her picks to Duke, Iowa, UCLA, Notre Dame and TCU before Friday's announcement, which happened to fall on her mother's birthday.

Duke finished last season with a 22-12 record and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

“We are so happy for Emilee. Duke is lucky to have her and we can't wait to cheer her on. Go to the Blue Devils,” Ridgeline coach Ainsli Jenks said.

Last March, Skinner was named the Deseret News Ms. Basketball honoree for the 30th time in the awards history. As a junior last season, she led Ridgeline to a 25-2 record and a repeat 4A state championship, averaging 24.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 blocks and 3.5 steals.

She shot 86% from the free throw line, 43% from 3-point range and 59% from the field. In her junior year, she made 20 more 3-pointers than in her sophomore year.

She has started every game since her freshman season and will look to lead Ridgeline to a three-peat this coming season.

Last summer, Skinner earned a spot on the United States U17 National Team that won gold at the FIBA ​​U17 Women's World Cup. She averaged 6.2 points and played 13.2 minutes competing against her peers.

Jenks was Skinner's coach throughout high school and she regularly praised her for her outstanding character on and off the field.

“She could probably play almost any sport you asked of her and she would be incredibly good at it. She's just a phenomenal athlete, a phenomenal competitor. She has a natural ability to make things seem easy,” Jenks said. “Probably what I love most about Emily is that it’s not about her. She's not doing this for herself, it's her team. Even when she was younger, she did everything she could to ensure her team was successful.”

In three seasons at Ridgeline, Skinner scored 1,622 career points. She will inevitably surpass the 2,000-point threshold at some point in her senior season, making her just the third player in state history to do so — although Snow Canyon's Olivia Hamlin is also on track to reach 2,000 points. to exceed the mark.