Ash Grove girls’ basketball players Bristol Lathrop and Millison Sapp have committed to play at the collegiate level. Lathrop, a 6-foot-1 wing, will attend Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, while Sapp, a 5-foot-6 guard, will stay close to home at Drury University.

College Commitments

Lathrop and Sapp, both Class of 2027 talents, have twice earned all-state distinction and helped the Pirates capture a Class 3 District 11 title and the program’s first sectional appearance in five years.

Sapp said she knew where she was committing as soon as Drury women’s basketball head coach Kaci Bailey reached out. ‘They have an amazing education,’ Sapp said of the private Springfield school. ‘Obviously, they have a very well-known basketball program, as well, and I just loved all the coaches and I just absolutely fell in love with (the school).’

Lathrop, who averaged 18 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a junior, said SIU-Edwardsville was among the first schools to show consistent recruiting interest. ‘I think them paying attention to me early on in my recruiting process meant a lot to me,’ Lathrop said. ‘It showed that they believed in me and trusted me, and it allowed me to have more opportunities to get to know the staff, get to know the players that have been through the program, and just get to see them grow and see what they need.’

Ash Grove’s Season Ahead

With their college commitments behind them, Lathrop and Sapp are now focused on finishing up successful careers for Ash Grove. They believe the team has what it takes to make it further into the state playoffs than last season.

‘I think it’s going to be really exciting with the team we have,’ Lathrop said. ‘I think last year we had a chip on our shoulder, and we had one goal — and we accomplished that goal — but at the end of the day, we still wanted to go further … I think we can go even further.’

Sapp shared a similar sentiment. ‘I think we can achieve conference champs,’ she said. ‘I think we can be district champs and I think that we have a really good foundation to make it really far.’

Original reporting: Springfield Daily Citizen — read the source article.