The college recruitment of Waubonsie Valley’s Danyella Mporokoso ran a little deeper for coach Brett Love than the average process of finding a place to play at the next level.
Considering the fact that Love has worked with Mporokoso since she was a child — well before she became a two-time all-state player for the Warriors — ramped up the meaning.
“We talk all the time about every little thing,” Love said. “I’ve been in this situation before. This journey with Dani has been special because of how long we’ve been working together.
“I’m very proud of her for making a mature decision that was best for who she is.”
There were 15 schools in the running for Mporokoso, a 5-foot-7 senior guard who narrowed it down to DePaul, Illinois State and Marquette as she decided she wanted to be closer to home.
Illinois State won out as she committed last week.
“It was really about the people and the plan and how much they believe in me,” Mporokoso said. “I ended up realizing later in the process that I wanted to stay closer to home.
“It’s a huge relief. It’s a huge decision that was weighing on me. I was feeling a lot of stress and pressure. I’m happy I don’t have to worry about that.”
It’s the kind of attention one receives when they’re ranked as a top 100 recruit in the nation, and for Mporokoso, she can now narrow her focus on her senior season.
Arie Garcia-Evans, a longtime teammate, was happy to watch her go through this process.
“I was very proud of her to be able to live her dream,” Garcia-Evans said of Mporokoso picking Illinois State. “I think that’s somewhere she’ll excel at.”
Mporokoso also has one more shot to help the Warriors win a state championship. They placed fourth in Class 4A her sophomore season before losing last winter in the supersectional.
“Winning state is a huge goal for us,” Mporokoso said. “We talk about it every day. That is our No. 1 goal. I think it’s a realistic goal. There are a good amount of us who have been there before.”
Mporokoso is also 917 points shy of the program scoring record of 2,885 set by Ashley Luke. That would require a big jump over the past two seasons.
But with the improvements Love saw in the offseason, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
“She made a huge development in her reads and counters,” Love said. “I know she played a lot of high-level basketball, very competitive. I think that contributed to her slowing the game down and making key counters and reads and allowing her to make the right decisions.”
With much of her game already established, Mporokoso went to work on sharpening up those skills playing AAU travel basketball with M-14.
“It was more fine-tuning,” Mporokoso said. “I was working on getting some of my shots off faster, starting to be more efficient.”
Garcia-Evans, who has always had a bond with Mporokoso, played travel basketball last summer with Waubonsie teammate Maya Cobb.
The Warriors also added another explosive guard in Syncere Williams, a West Aurora transfer.
“I think we’re ready,” Garcia-Evans said. “(Mporokoso) and I played together since we were little, so that chemistry will always be there.
“I think we all know where we want to go. We want to get back to state.”
Love isn’t shy about communicating that desire to his team every day.
While he’s grateful to have already taken a team to state, that’s not his ultimate goal. He knows with one more season of Mporokoso, Waubonsie has to take advantage.
“It’s either state or nothing,” Love said. “I understand who we have and who is graduating. Since we have the talent and maturity and experience, why not us?
“That is something we are striving for. I don’t want to settle for anything less.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
