May 12, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz.- Arizona State has signed Cian Carvalho of Kapaa, Hawaii, to study and play basketball beginning next fall, head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne announced Friday.
A 5-11 forward, Carvalho comes to ASU after two seasons at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. A two-time All-Jayhawk Conference and All-Region 6 first-team selection, Carvalho finished her junior college career as Hutchinson's all-time leading scorer and led the team to a 45-18 record in two seasons. She averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game and shot 55 percent from the field and 82.5 percent from the free-throw line last year.
"Cian represents all of the things that we need to improve on to win a Pac-10 Conference championship: rebounding, scoring, toughness, aggressiveness," Turner Thorne said. "She is an ultra competitive athlete who will do whatever it takes to accomplish this goal. We feel very fortunate that we discovered Cian and that she chose to be a Sun Devil."
According to Hutchinson CC head coach Rob Edmisson, Carvalho, who attended El Camino High School in Oceanside, Calif., in her senior year of high school, will be a great addition to the Arizona State squad.
"Bottom line, Cian Carvalho is a great person. Not only is she a great basketball talent in becoming the all-time leading scorer at Hutchinson, she is a great kid. She will be a great ambassador for Arizona State," he said. "She is a very physical and multi-dimensional player. Her biggest attribute is her great work ethic. She will absolutely outwork anybody at her position."
Carvalho will join Jen Albert of Longmont, Colo., and Betsy Boardman of Beaverton, Ore., who both signed with Arizona State in the fall period.