Amojo commits to WSU

Standing in a hallway of Hec Edmundson Pavilion after Auburn Riverside's first-round win at the Class 3A state tournament earlier this month, former Raven Ireti Amojo was being bombarded left and right.

A Washington assistant coach chatted with her, and then the press approached. With Auburn Riverside senior and best friend Katie Grad already slated to play at Washington State this fall, was Amojo considering the Huskies' rival, too?

"That would be awesome, I'd love to go to school with her," said Amojo, as the Huskies assistant ventured off. "We'll see, we'll see."

Amojo, who played on Auburn Riverside's 2007 state-championship team as an exchange student from Germany, committed to WSU on Monday afternoon.

"I'm so excited," Amojo said via phone while coming back from Pullman. "I can't believe I just committed to Washington State."

As for an ecstatic Grad, she "didn't really know how to react, because we've always talked about it but we didn't know if it would be realistic."

Amojo lived with Grad's family while she was here during the 2006-07 season.

"We didn't get in a fight one time. We stayed in one room, saw each other every day, and I never got tired of her," said Amojo, who talks to Grad for two hours every Sunday.

"There's almost no word for it. She's kind of like my better half. That's how important she is to me."

The 5-foot-10 junior guard is the first recruit in WSU coach June Daugherty's second recruiting class (2009), following Grad's footsteps as the former Washington coach's first commitment in Pullman.

Amojo said that the Cougars (5-25) have been the most-persistent school since she went back to Germany last summer. She was thoroughly impressed with Daugherty in her first conversation with her Sunday, and is thrilled about the direction of WSU's program: "I feel like this is the right place and I really want to be a part of what June is trying to do."

A hybrid of basketball acumen and athleticism, Amojo averaged 10 points per game in her one season with the Ravens. Amojo, a member of the German junior national team, had offers from Colorado State, Oregon State, Utah (which actually visited Amojo overseas) and Washington.

"She's one of the most athletic kids to come out of our program," Auburn Riverside coach Adam Barrett said. "She's got a sweet pull-up jumper, she can defend anyone on the perimeter, and she takes on-ball charges better than anyone I've seen."

Amojo is the Ravens' fourth Pac-10 recruit in four years, joining Julie Futch (2006, Oregon State), Stephanie Wilber (2007, Arizona State) and Grad.

"It's pretty amazing -- the talent we've been dishing out here," Barrett said.

Currently on spring break, Amojo arrived just in time to watch all of Auburn Riverside's games at the 3A state tournament, which culminated in the program's second consecutive state title March 8.

"I'm so happy to come back and be with my host family," said Amojo, who admitted to dreading March 24 -- the day she leaves. "In this time, I just realized how important it is for me to be close with all my friends at Auburn Riverside. Just the idea of being with Katie four more years and being with my 'family' and being close -- that's what I wanted."