Judkins announces signees

PROVO, Utah— BYU women’s basketball head coach Jeff Judkins has announced that Liz Eaton, Brenna Chase, Shalae Salmon, and Jessica Chatman have signed letters of intent to play at BYU starting the 2016-17 season.

“We were able to sign the top players from Utah and Colorado as well as a standout player from New Zealand who brings international experience and a top player out of the state of Washington,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “This is the first time in quite a while that we were fortunate in getting all of these top and highly recruited players.”

Liz Eaton, from Springville, Utah, is a 5-foot-9 guard who preps at Maple Mountain High School. She is a two-time Daily Herald First Team All-Region honoree and a two-time Offensive Player of the Year recipient. During her junior year, she led the state in scoring and was named First Team All-State by the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. She was also ranked as one of the top 10 Utah Girls Basketball Guards to Watch by Max Preps. Eaton is the younger sister of current basketball All-American Lexi Eaton Rydalch.

“Liz is like her sister, a very tough, athletic, hard-working player. She’s a good defender, shooter and rebounder,” added coach Judkins.

Brenna Chase is a 5-foot-9 guard from Thornton, Colorado who preps at Broomfield High School. She was a First Team 5A All-State honoree in 2015 and a 2014-15 5A First Team Front Range League recipient.  Chase has twice been a member of the United States Junior Nationals (USJN) Battle at the Border All Star team (2011 and 2013), was named to the 2014 Blue Star Nationals All-Tournament team and to the 2014 Portland EOT All-Tournament squad. In her junior season, Broomfield won the 5A state championship. Her junior year she averaged 15.5 ppg., 2.6 rpg., and a 3.4 average in both assists and steals.  She’s also garnered three academic all-state awards.

"Brenna is a true point guard that is a good mix between Kylie Maeda and Haley Steed. She has all of the tools to be a great player,” commented Judkins.

Shalae Salmon, a 6-foot 3 forward from Porirua, New Zealand, has been on the New Zealand (NZ) Women’s Maori team this year and on the runner up team that competed in the NZ Secondary School AA championship tournament.  In addition, she was on the NZ Secondary School Tournament Team.  Also in 2015, Salmon competed in the NZ Women’s Basketball Championship League and was on the NZ U16 team. In 2013, she played on the NZ U15 national team that was the runner up that year.

“Shalae will come in and help with our inside presence. She’s a good and strong post player that can shoot and rebound very well,” said Judkins.

Jessica Chatman originally signed her letter of intent in November 2013 to start play in 2014-15, but delayed her start in order to serve an LDS mission in Lansing, Michigan. She is the daughter of Cougar great Jeff Chatman and the younger sister to Jordan Chatman, who is currently on the men’s hoops team. Prior to departing on her mission, she finished her associate’s degree in general education.

Chatman, a 6-foot-0 forward, prepped at Union High School in Vancouver, Washington where she garnered three first team all-league citations, two first team all-region award and was named second team all-league her sophomore season. Chatman played one year for Team Concept and one year for Oregon Elite Basketball Academy.

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