TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State University head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne today announced the signing of five student-athletes – Maggie Besselink, Keeli Burton, Sydney Erikstrup, Katelyn Levings, Jaddan Simmons – whose collective talents will immediately make Sun Devil Women's Basketball a major player on the national scene.
"Competing for conference championships and national championships have become one in the same in today's Pac-12," Turner Thorne said. "This impactful class, combined with our talented returners, will be a team that could lead us to our first Final Four. They truly bring everything – talent, athleticism, character and great basketball acumen – that will have us competing with the top teams in the nation on an annual basis."
A 6-foot-3 guard, Besselink will be coming to ASU from Kingston, Ontario, where she has established herself as a rising star in the national program. This past summer Besselink was selected to Canada's U19 national team that participated in the FIBA World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Besselink was not able to play in the tournament due to an injury suffered during the team's training camp. Besselink's provincial team highlights include helping Team Ontario win the gold medal at the U17 National Championships. In that tournament Besselink was named MVP after accumulating five-game averages of 12 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Earlier this week, Besselink, who is ranked No. 23 at her position by ESPN.com, scored more than half (33) of her Holy Cross High School team's 63 points in helping the Crusaders win the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association (KASSAA) senior girls basketball championship. Besselink will be the fourth Canadian student-athlete to join Sun Devil Women's Basketball in the last eight years, joining recent graduates Isidora Purkovic and Quinn Dornstauder and current sophomore guard Taya Hanson, who joined Besselink on the U19 team earlier this year.
"We first heard about Maggie through Team Canada and it was clear how much they thought of her because they were already integrating her into Trials and Teams with players two and three years older," Turner Thorne said. "Maggie is 'that good.' She is a 6-foot-3 guard who is capable of playing every position on the floor and is already a three-level scorer. She is an exceptional athlete and, equally important, an exceptional teammate. Both her parents, Leslie and John, were standout basketball players and clearly helped her develop into the leader and player she is today. We are so excited to have them all as a part of our Sun Devil family."
"Maggie Besselink has been an integral part of the Holy Cross Basketball program since she arrived in Grade 9 in 2016," Holy Cross coach Kelly Dixon said. "Along with her ability to score, she has court vision and phenomenal passing skills, which allows her to distribute the ball from anywhere on the floor. Defensively Maggie is highly versatile and disrupts teams with her length, causing multiple turnovers. She is a tireless rebounder under the basket in both directions. She is the type of player that makes everyone around her better with her competitiveness and her skill. She is the epitome of a team player. She encourages, she motivates and is a leader on and off the court."
Added Besselink's AAU coach Fabienne Blizzard, "Maggie is the most coachable athlete. She is a silent killer on the court who makes everything look easy on the court. She can defend any position and can play any position on the floor. She can shoot, can finish at the rim and is a rebounding machine (amazing tracking and timing). Arizona State is very fortunate to have her, she is a great athlete and a wonderful young lady."
A 6-foot-3 post from Sammamish, Wash., Burton has averaged a double-double – 16.8 points, 11.9 rebounds – during the first three years of her high school career. Burton is coming off an outstanding junior campaign in which she was named the Associated Press Class 4A player of the year for a season in which she averaged 20.1 points and 13.8 rebounds in leading her Eastlake High School team to a 22-6 record and the first state girls basketball championship in school history. Burton earned the class 4A Tournament's MVP award after a 22-point, 12-rebound performance in the state championship game. As a sophomore, Burton's tremendous contributions of 15.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game helped Eastlake to a 23-4 record and fifth-place finish in the state tournament. Burton, who has been named to the All-KingCo team each of the last three years, had a phenomenal rookie campaign in which she averaged 14.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
"We have all heard of a point forward, Keeli is our vision of a point post," Turner Thorne said. "She is a strong, 6-foot-3 post who can not only bury a player down low, but also step out and hit a three or make a great assist. Much like her incoming teammates, she really knows and sees the game. She has gotten great tutelage from her mom, Cindi, who played in college and her stepdad. We are also very excited for her interior presence on defense. She is very skilled but she still loves to 'bang.' A great former Sun Devil comparison would be our star center Melody Johnson, but with a great 3-point shot. We are overjoyed to have Keeli and family as part of our Sun Devil family."
Added Eastlake coach Sara Goldie, "Keeli is the most talented post player I have ever coached. With her ability to dominate inside and hit shots from beyond the arc, she stretches and collapses defenses. This opens up opportunities for her teammates and has been a huge part of our success over the past few years. Keeli is selfless in her play, yet dominant at the same time. She often times is double- and triple-teamed and is able to either find her teammates or finish through insane contact. Her footwork is excellent and her touch is one of the best I've seen in high school."
A 6-foot-1 guard from Portland, Ore., Erikstrup has been named all-league each of her first three seasons – freshman year at Lake Oswego High School and the last two years at Beaverton High School. In two seasons as Beaverton, Erikstrup has helped lead her team to consecutive state semifinals appearances. Ranked No. 31 at her position by ESPN.com, Erikstrup finished among the 6A leaders in both steals and assists in 2018. In three 2018 state playoff games, Erikstrup finished tied for the lead in steals (2.7), tied for third in scoring (13.7 ppg) and eighth in field goal percentage (51.6). In Beaverton's 2018 semifinal game, Erikstrup came through with a brilliant effort, scoring 23 points (second-highest point total for the entire tournament) and grabbing 11 rebounds in a one-point loss.
"We saw Sydney from the time she was in eighth grade and immediately began recruiting her because we loved not just her skillset, but her high motor and how savvy she was as a basketball player," Turner Thorne said. "Her tireless work ethic has enabled her to develop into a top, versatile 6-foot-1 guard. She was another player who came to our elite camp and truly solidified for us how gifted she was and also what a great teammate she would be. We are so thrilled to have Sydney and her family as part of our Sun Devil family."
Added Beaverton head coach Kathy Naro, "Sydney is an all-league, all-state, all-tourney player who has helped her team reach the state semifinals two seasons in a row. She possesses tremendous athleticism which allows her to play outside and inside. She is 6-foot-1, long, quick and very versatile. She has an uncanny ability to get to the basket using either hand and thrives attacking opponents in the open floor. Using her driving abilities and unselfish play she creates shots for her teammates. She always has a smile on her face and approaches life with positivity and joy. I am so excited to see her join the great tradition at Arizona State."
Levings will be coming to Tempe from Oklahoma City, Okla., where she has earned first-team Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference (COAC) honors each of the last two seasons playing for Edmond Memorial High School. Levings, who has been invited to USA Basketball team camps three times, is on pace go over 1,000 career points in 2019-20. Levings' play has been equally remarkable with her Oklahoma Swarm club team, as she has averaged a double-double each of the last three seasons: 15.5 ppg/10.1 rpg in 2017, 17.4 ppg/11.4 rpg in 2018 and 20.5 ppg/11.2 rpg in 2019. At the 2019 Nike Nationals, Levings dropped in 25 points and grabbed 11 boards in the championship game. In addition to her accomplishments on the hardwood, Levings also boasts three state championships in track. Off the court, Levings was featured by ESPN.com in 2018 after traveling to the Nicaraguan city of Matagalpa as part of a mission set up by her church.
"The two things that stood out to us the most the first time we watched Katelyn play was, first, how skilled she was for a 6-foot-3 player, and second, was her positively energized presence on the floor," Turner Thorne said. "I knew from that first game, we would love to coach her and she could really help our program. Sun Devil fans are going to love her versatility, especially her 3-point shot. While maybe not a backcourt guard, her fantastic perimeter skills, incredible basketball IQ, and her relentless work ethic are exciting beyond words. We are so thrilled to welcome Katelyn and her family into our Sun Devil family."
"Katelyn is not only an excellent player but a great young lady," Edmond coach Curt Knox said. "Her skillset is unique combining versatility both around the goal and stepping out to the perimeter being a very difficult matchup for the defense. Her character is unmatched and absolutely loves to spread happiness as evidenced by her many summer mission trips abroad. The thing I have enjoyed the most about coaching her is the fact that not only is she our best player but also our hardest worker and absolutely a positive energy giver, always with a smile on her face."
Added her Oklahoma Swarm club coach Jim Perinovic, "What I have enjoyed most about coaching Katelyn was never having to worry about the level of intensity she would bring, what kind of role she would play or the leadership abilities she brought to our team. Katelyn's competitiveness and love for the game fueled her dedication to become better each time she stepped onto the court. I am incredibly proud to be able to say that I've coached her and watch her transform into a great basketball player and young woman."
A 5-foot-9 guard with tremendous versatility, Simmons, who hails from De Pere, Wisc., will compete for the same University as her father, Jason, who in 1996 was a member of the Sun Devil football team that went 11-0 in the regular season, captured the Pac-10 title and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl. In 2019 Simmons was named the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) player of the year after she averaged a league-high 21.4 points to go with 7.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.0 block in league. She was the only player in the 10-team FRCC to rank in the top seven in all five categories. Simmons was also named a Division 2 first-team all-state pick by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and a third-team all-state selection by The Associated Press. Simmons, who has a career scoring average of 19.6 points per game, was named both the league's player of the year and defensive player of the year as a sophomore. She came within two assists of a triple double in a game in which she had a career-high 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. She is ranked No. 30 at her position by ESPN.com.
"The assist to getting this stand-out backcourt guard goes to Jaddan's Sun Devil parents Tiffany and former ASU football star Jason Simmons," Turner Thorne said. "While we absolutely knew about Jaddan's accolades, their willingness to bring Jaddan out to our elite camp the summer before her junior year was crucial. Getting to see first-hand how skilled she was, how hard she worked and how tremendously coachable she was truly showed she was a difference maker and that we wanted her to be a Sun Devil. Jaddan has the versatility of Briann January in that she can run a team or slide over and really score the basketball…and yes, she can defend. We are overjoyed that Jaddan has chosen to follow in the footsteps of her parents and join our Sun Devil family."
Added Cordero Barkley, coach of Simmons' Purple Aces AAU team, "On the court Jaddan is fiercely competitive and can dig deeper than most players to find ways to make winning plays. Jaddan has consistently been one of the best two-way players in the state of Wisconsin and in the country. Off of the court, Jaddan is one of the most respectful and thoughtful people you will meet. She is shy and witty and has developed into a great leader in the community, mentoring the next generation of student-athletes. As one of her coaches, I always admire that she has never settled. She continues to get better as a player and has always wanted to compete, even when she was only competing with herself."
Currently No. 19 in the AP Top 25, the Sun Devils, winners of their first two games, make their first road trip of the season this weekend when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to face Minnesota on Sunday at 3 pm CT/2 pm MT. The game can be seen on Big Ten Network and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
"Competing for conference championships and national championships have become one in the same in today's Pac-12," Turner Thorne said. "This impactful class, combined with our talented returners, will be a team that could lead us to our first Final Four. They truly bring everything – talent, athleticism, character and great basketball acumen – that will have us competing with the top teams in the nation on an annual basis."
A 6-foot-3 guard, Besselink will be coming to ASU from Kingston, Ontario, where she has established herself as a rising star in the national program. This past summer Besselink was selected to Canada's U19 national team that participated in the FIBA World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Besselink was not able to play in the tournament due to an injury suffered during the team's training camp. Besselink's provincial team highlights include helping Team Ontario win the gold medal at the U17 National Championships. In that tournament Besselink was named MVP after accumulating five-game averages of 12 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Earlier this week, Besselink, who is ranked No. 23 at her position by ESPN.com, scored more than half (33) of her Holy Cross High School team's 63 points in helping the Crusaders win the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association (KASSAA) senior girls basketball championship. Besselink will be the fourth Canadian student-athlete to join Sun Devil Women's Basketball in the last eight years, joining recent graduates Isidora Purkovic and Quinn Dornstauder and current sophomore guard Taya Hanson, who joined Besselink on the U19 team earlier this year.
"We first heard about Maggie through Team Canada and it was clear how much they thought of her because they were already integrating her into Trials and Teams with players two and three years older," Turner Thorne said. "Maggie is 'that good.' She is a 6-foot-3 guard who is capable of playing every position on the floor and is already a three-level scorer. She is an exceptional athlete and, equally important, an exceptional teammate. Both her parents, Leslie and John, were standout basketball players and clearly helped her develop into the leader and player she is today. We are so excited to have them all as a part of our Sun Devil family."
"Maggie Besselink has been an integral part of the Holy Cross Basketball program since she arrived in Grade 9 in 2016," Holy Cross coach Kelly Dixon said. "Along with her ability to score, she has court vision and phenomenal passing skills, which allows her to distribute the ball from anywhere on the floor. Defensively Maggie is highly versatile and disrupts teams with her length, causing multiple turnovers. She is a tireless rebounder under the basket in both directions. She is the type of player that makes everyone around her better with her competitiveness and her skill. She is the epitome of a team player. She encourages, she motivates and is a leader on and off the court."
Added Besselink's AAU coach Fabienne Blizzard, "Maggie is the most coachable athlete. She is a silent killer on the court who makes everything look easy on the court. She can defend any position and can play any position on the floor. She can shoot, can finish at the rim and is a rebounding machine (amazing tracking and timing). Arizona State is very fortunate to have her, she is a great athlete and a wonderful young lady."
A 6-foot-3 post from Sammamish, Wash., Burton has averaged a double-double – 16.8 points, 11.9 rebounds – during the first three years of her high school career. Burton is coming off an outstanding junior campaign in which she was named the Associated Press Class 4A player of the year for a season in which she averaged 20.1 points and 13.8 rebounds in leading her Eastlake High School team to a 22-6 record and the first state girls basketball championship in school history. Burton earned the class 4A Tournament's MVP award after a 22-point, 12-rebound performance in the state championship game. As a sophomore, Burton's tremendous contributions of 15.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game helped Eastlake to a 23-4 record and fifth-place finish in the state tournament. Burton, who has been named to the All-KingCo team each of the last three years, had a phenomenal rookie campaign in which she averaged 14.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
"We have all heard of a point forward, Keeli is our vision of a point post," Turner Thorne said. "She is a strong, 6-foot-3 post who can not only bury a player down low, but also step out and hit a three or make a great assist. Much like her incoming teammates, she really knows and sees the game. She has gotten great tutelage from her mom, Cindi, who played in college and her stepdad. We are also very excited for her interior presence on defense. She is very skilled but she still loves to 'bang.' A great former Sun Devil comparison would be our star center Melody Johnson, but with a great 3-point shot. We are overjoyed to have Keeli and family as part of our Sun Devil family."
Added Eastlake coach Sara Goldie, "Keeli is the most talented post player I have ever coached. With her ability to dominate inside and hit shots from beyond the arc, she stretches and collapses defenses. This opens up opportunities for her teammates and has been a huge part of our success over the past few years. Keeli is selfless in her play, yet dominant at the same time. She often times is double- and triple-teamed and is able to either find her teammates or finish through insane contact. Her footwork is excellent and her touch is one of the best I've seen in high school."
A 6-foot-1 guard from Portland, Ore., Erikstrup has been named all-league each of her first three seasons – freshman year at Lake Oswego High School and the last two years at Beaverton High School. In two seasons as Beaverton, Erikstrup has helped lead her team to consecutive state semifinals appearances. Ranked No. 31 at her position by ESPN.com, Erikstrup finished among the 6A leaders in both steals and assists in 2018. In three 2018 state playoff games, Erikstrup finished tied for the lead in steals (2.7), tied for third in scoring (13.7 ppg) and eighth in field goal percentage (51.6). In Beaverton's 2018 semifinal game, Erikstrup came through with a brilliant effort, scoring 23 points (second-highest point total for the entire tournament) and grabbing 11 rebounds in a one-point loss.
"We saw Sydney from the time she was in eighth grade and immediately began recruiting her because we loved not just her skillset, but her high motor and how savvy she was as a basketball player," Turner Thorne said. "Her tireless work ethic has enabled her to develop into a top, versatile 6-foot-1 guard. She was another player who came to our elite camp and truly solidified for us how gifted she was and also what a great teammate she would be. We are so thrilled to have Sydney and her family as part of our Sun Devil family."
Added Beaverton head coach Kathy Naro, "Sydney is an all-league, all-state, all-tourney player who has helped her team reach the state semifinals two seasons in a row. She possesses tremendous athleticism which allows her to play outside and inside. She is 6-foot-1, long, quick and very versatile. She has an uncanny ability to get to the basket using either hand and thrives attacking opponents in the open floor. Using her driving abilities and unselfish play she creates shots for her teammates. She always has a smile on her face and approaches life with positivity and joy. I am so excited to see her join the great tradition at Arizona State."
Levings will be coming to Tempe from Oklahoma City, Okla., where she has earned first-team Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference (COAC) honors each of the last two seasons playing for Edmond Memorial High School. Levings, who has been invited to USA Basketball team camps three times, is on pace go over 1,000 career points in 2019-20. Levings' play has been equally remarkable with her Oklahoma Swarm club team, as she has averaged a double-double each of the last three seasons: 15.5 ppg/10.1 rpg in 2017, 17.4 ppg/11.4 rpg in 2018 and 20.5 ppg/11.2 rpg in 2019. At the 2019 Nike Nationals, Levings dropped in 25 points and grabbed 11 boards in the championship game. In addition to her accomplishments on the hardwood, Levings also boasts three state championships in track. Off the court, Levings was featured by ESPN.com in 2018 after traveling to the Nicaraguan city of Matagalpa as part of a mission set up by her church.
"The two things that stood out to us the most the first time we watched Katelyn play was, first, how skilled she was for a 6-foot-3 player, and second, was her positively energized presence on the floor," Turner Thorne said. "I knew from that first game, we would love to coach her and she could really help our program. Sun Devil fans are going to love her versatility, especially her 3-point shot. While maybe not a backcourt guard, her fantastic perimeter skills, incredible basketball IQ, and her relentless work ethic are exciting beyond words. We are so thrilled to welcome Katelyn and her family into our Sun Devil family."
"Katelyn is not only an excellent player but a great young lady," Edmond coach Curt Knox said. "Her skillset is unique combining versatility both around the goal and stepping out to the perimeter being a very difficult matchup for the defense. Her character is unmatched and absolutely loves to spread happiness as evidenced by her many summer mission trips abroad. The thing I have enjoyed the most about coaching her is the fact that not only is she our best player but also our hardest worker and absolutely a positive energy giver, always with a smile on her face."
Added her Oklahoma Swarm club coach Jim Perinovic, "What I have enjoyed most about coaching Katelyn was never having to worry about the level of intensity she would bring, what kind of role she would play or the leadership abilities she brought to our team. Katelyn's competitiveness and love for the game fueled her dedication to become better each time she stepped onto the court. I am incredibly proud to be able to say that I've coached her and watch her transform into a great basketball player and young woman."
A 5-foot-9 guard with tremendous versatility, Simmons, who hails from De Pere, Wisc., will compete for the same University as her father, Jason, who in 1996 was a member of the Sun Devil football team that went 11-0 in the regular season, captured the Pac-10 title and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl. In 2019 Simmons was named the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) player of the year after she averaged a league-high 21.4 points to go with 7.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.0 block in league. She was the only player in the 10-team FRCC to rank in the top seven in all five categories. Simmons was also named a Division 2 first-team all-state pick by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and a third-team all-state selection by The Associated Press. Simmons, who has a career scoring average of 19.6 points per game, was named both the league's player of the year and defensive player of the year as a sophomore. She came within two assists of a triple double in a game in which she had a career-high 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. She is ranked No. 30 at her position by ESPN.com.
"The assist to getting this stand-out backcourt guard goes to Jaddan's Sun Devil parents Tiffany and former ASU football star Jason Simmons," Turner Thorne said. "While we absolutely knew about Jaddan's accolades, their willingness to bring Jaddan out to our elite camp the summer before her junior year was crucial. Getting to see first-hand how skilled she was, how hard she worked and how tremendously coachable she was truly showed she was a difference maker and that we wanted her to be a Sun Devil. Jaddan has the versatility of Briann January in that she can run a team or slide over and really score the basketball…and yes, she can defend. We are overjoyed that Jaddan has chosen to follow in the footsteps of her parents and join our Sun Devil family."
Added Cordero Barkley, coach of Simmons' Purple Aces AAU team, "On the court Jaddan is fiercely competitive and can dig deeper than most players to find ways to make winning plays. Jaddan has consistently been one of the best two-way players in the state of Wisconsin and in the country. Off of the court, Jaddan is one of the most respectful and thoughtful people you will meet. She is shy and witty and has developed into a great leader in the community, mentoring the next generation of student-athletes. As one of her coaches, I always admire that she has never settled. She continues to get better as a player and has always wanted to compete, even when she was only competing with herself."
Currently No. 19 in the AP Top 25, the Sun Devils, winners of their first two games, make their first road trip of the season this weekend when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to face Minnesota on Sunday at 3 pm CT/2 pm MT. The game can be seen on Big Ten Network and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
The Sun Devils return home to host Cal Poly on Sun., Nov. 24 at 5 pm. As part of Sun Devil Women's Basketball's Sunday FunDay promotion there will be FREE admission for kids 8th grade and younger and $5 tickets for parents and family using the promo code SUNDAY. Click here to purchase your tickets today.