Gorman’s Ellenberg to play for global travel team
Bishop Gorman girls basketball star Aaryn Ellenberg has been selected as one of 12 players nationwide to play for the Candace Parker Aces global travel team, which will play five exhibition games in Japan in August.
Ellenberg, a senior-to-be guard who orally committed to Oklahoma in March, is the only player from Nevada on the squad.
“It’s going to be a good experience for me,” Ellenberg said. “It’ll be great to go out there and showcase your talent and where you come from.”
Ellenberg leaves Aug. 4 for Los Angeles, where she and her teammates will be involved in a five-day camp featuring youth skills clinics. The team also will be recognized at a Los Angeles Sparks-Seattle Storm game on Aug. 6 at Staples Center.
The team then departs Aug. 9 for Tokyo before returning Aug. 19.
John E. Phillips, director of adidas Womanhood Girls Grassroots Basketball, selected players for the event.
“Aaryn is a great young lady, a superior talent,” Phillips said. “So much of her best is ahead of her with what she can do.”
Phillips touted the program for its cultural and educational benefits.
“The experience is like being on an Olympic team, in a way,” he said. “She’ll learn how it is to play away from the United States, to play away from home.”
Ellenberg said “a lot of pressure is off the shoulders” since committing to Oklahoma. She picked the Sooners over Arizona State, Baylor, California and Connecticut.
The 5-foot-7-inch guard averaged 18 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.1 steals as a junior, leading the Gaels to a 29-5 record and second-place Class 4A finish in the state.
