Judkins announces signees

PROVO, Utah— BYU women’s basketball coach Jeff Judkins has announced that Amanda Wayment, Alohi Robins-Hardy and Jessica Chatman have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Cougars.

“We are very excited to have these three great players join our program,” Judkins said. “All of them come from winning programs and they bring tremendous athletic ability that will give us versatility and depth. They are smart and have a great understanding for the game.”

Wayment, a 6-foot-1 center, from Plain City, Utah, has garnered First Team Region 1 and first team all-state awards. Last season she averaged 15.5 points per game, was named all-region honorable mention, picked up a Deseret News 5A Second Team citation and an Ogden Standard Examiner Star of the Week award. Wayment is a three-sport athlete also competing on the girl’s volleyball team and track teams at Fremont High School. She also played on the Intensity Basketball club team for two seasons and is on the high school’s Honor Roll.

“Amanda is a well-rounded athlete, she’s aggressive in the post and an excellent rebounder,” Judkins added. “She will play both the 3 and 4 spots for us which will give us a lot of depth at that position.”

Alohi Robins-Hardy is a dual-sport athlete starting on both the girl’s basketball and volleyball teams at Kamehameha High School in Honolulu. The 6-foot-1 senior center is a three-year  starter and team captain who has garnered three all-state team honors. She helped guide Kamehameha High School to a state championship last year in basketball. In volleyball, the outside hitter helped take the team to a state championship this year where she was the named the tournament MVP.  In her sophomore and junior years the  team advanced to the championship game. Robins-Hardy has been on the Fab 15 Star-Advertisers list the past three seasons and was the only freshman to make the all-state team in 2010.

“Alohi is a versatile player who is a very good ball handler and has a strong inside and outside presence,” said Judkins. “She was heavily recruited by good schools and it is great for our program to get another player from Hawaii. We expect a lot of great things from her.”

Jessica, a 6-foot-0 forward who preps at Union High School in Vancouver, Wash., has garnered two first team all-league citations, one first team all-region award and was named second team all-league her sophomore season. She enters her senior season averaging 16.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Chatman played one year for Team Concept and one year for Oregon Elite Basketball Academy.

“Jessica can shoot, drive, she’s smart and is an all-around player,” Judkins commented. “She is a good defender and an excellent rebounder and will play the 2 and 3 positions for us . Her versatility will add to our depth as a team.”

She is the daughter of Cougar great Jeff Chatman and the younger sister to Jordan Chatman who joins the men’s team next year after returning from serving an LDS mission.

While Wayment and Robins-Hardy will begin their college careers in the fall of 2014, Chatman will defer her enrollment for 18 months. She’s planning to go on an LDS mission next spring when she turns 19. She will be the first signee under Judkins to postpone her eligibility to serve a mission first.