Lute's granddaughter commits to UA

The Wildcats have one scholarship available to fill.

In addition to playing guard for Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, Brase is best known for being men's basketball head coach Lute Olson's grand daughter.

The 5-foot-9 guard Brase and Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 post player from Oregon City High School in Oregon City, Ore., are the fourth and fifth players to commit to Arizona, joining Jen Callahan (5-8 guard from Scottsdale), Tysell Bozeman (5-8 point guard from Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Tatum Brown (6-4 post player from Central Arizona Junior College).

Mitchell has been a fixture in the post for the three-time USA Today national high school champions at Oregon City High School.

Brase said she knew after her weekend visit on campus that she wanted to play at Arizona. "After this weekend, I just felt right," she said last night from her home. "Everything fit together."

She said her impression of the team and the coaches during her visit convinced her to choose UA over New Mexico and Arizona State.

As for playing at the school where her grandfather is practically a demi-god, Brase said she was not intimidated by the task.

"I've been dealing with it since my freshman year of high school," she said. "It's not a problem. Once I start playing basketball for Arizona, people won't talk about it too much."

The news of the commitments came yesterday as head coach Joan Bonvicini and her team finished their second day of practice.

Bonvicini said she was pleased so far with her team, specifically praising the development of Amber Phoenix, Felicity Willis and Shontey Hambrick.

She also praised the play of true freshman Monique Paige who showed a variety of post moves during their intra-squad scrimmage.

However, the news was not all good for Bonvicini yesterday, with two of last season's starters suffering from nagging injuries.

Junior guard Monika Crank was forced to sit out the end of yesterday's practice with a lower back problem that Bonvicini termed as "ongoing."

Also finishing practice with the trainers was senior center Marte Alexander, who is hobbled with a strained hamstring.

Bonvicini said both players had aggravated injuries suffered in pre-season workouts, and that both would only need a few days of rest to get back on their feet.