TWIN FALLS - Wednesday afternoon, the College of Southern Idaho women’s basketball program began laying the foundation for what head coach Randy Rogers hopes is a return trip to the NJCAA Division I National Championships.

Raft River High School standout Nicole Harper and MeChel Hunt of Plain City, Utah’s, Fremont High School became the first players to sign national letters of intent to play for the Golden Eagles during the 2008-09 season at a 3 p.m. press conference at the CSI gymnasium. For Rogers, the signing of the two athletic wing players begins the process of addressing the team’s need for strong guard play in the coming season.


The 6-foot Hunt is expected to play small forward at CSI after helping Fremont to a 17-4 record as a senior and 14-0 mark in Utah’s Class 5A Region I standings. She averaged 11.5 points, 3.1 steals and 2.1 assists per game, and adds a wrinkle to CSI’s offensive attack, as she’s left-handed.

“It’s my second weapon, going left,” Hunt said with a smile.

The two incoming freshmen are expected to be officially joined shortly as CSI signees by sophomores Kim Gamblin, Soana Lucet and Maddy Plunkett. Gamblin sat out the 2007-08 season after transferring from Snow College and suffering a midseason hip fracture that’s kept her on crutches for months.

Lucet and Plunkett both garnered All-America honors for their efforts in leading the 32-4 Golden Eagles to a sixth-place national finish.

“To have one All-American is big,” Rogers said. “To have two All-Americans is huge. The last time that happened, I had Nakeya Isabell and Sidney Orndorff, and we played for a national championship their sophomore years.”

Harper and Hunt will be expected to put in hours of practice to improve their skills over the summer, as Rogers regularly inserts his entire roster into game action. No CSI player played in fewer than 23 games last season. Harper expressed her excitement about playing alongside a basketball-savvy college roster, along with facing the challenge of the NJCAA Division I level of play.

“I’m definitely going to have to raise my level of competition, because playing 1A, you don’t get that level of competition,” she said. “I think my game will improve because the level of competition is there.”

CSI has collected a 159-44 record and three national tournament trophies in Rogers’ six seasons at the helm. With exceptionally strong returning post strength and two promising guards already on the roster, win No. 160 for Rogers may only be a season-opening game away.

The true excitement for this team, however, may lie in its potential for gaining another trophy in its season finale.

“You know what, the program’s awesome and I’m just excited to go to the next level and play,” Hunt said.


“We’ve got to replace a lot of guards, and that’s been my focus, is finding guards that can not only help us win this league, but help us at the national tournament,” Rogers said.