Savannah Turner '20 Recruiting Profile

I've had a passion about women’s basketball since I was 5 years old. I immediately fell in love with the sport the first time I played the game. I played throughout elementary school with a local recreation league. I also have played travel AAU basketball since I was 8 years old.I have always “played up” on AAU teams and welcome the challenges playing the older athletes. I love to play this game as a “team” as it takes an entire team to prevail. My passion for the game of basketball is contagious. I continue to help young girls to live out their dream of playing this wonderful sport and I take great satisfaction in seeing these girls create a spark that engages them in meaningful ways. I try to live by the great Bill Russell when he said “The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” In addition to the game of basketball, I played baseball, soccer, volleyball and track. I am fortunate that I come from a family that follows many different sports. I played baseball for 6 years and was selected on a majority of yearly All Star teams. I played multiple positions in baseball which included pitcher and the infield positions. Also, playing baseball brought me great joy. Another sport that I excelled in was soccer. I played soccer for 8 years and won 4 championships during that span. I was the team captain for many of those seasons. I really enjoyed playing the game of soccer as it required the “team” aspect in order to be successful. I loved making a great pass as much as taking the shot on goal. From an early age, I learned that playing and being a team player is critical in all sports. In addition, I played the game of volleyball in junior high school. I was asked to play volleyball for my high school but chose to focus solely on basketball as it is my true love. I received many awards in sports. Although I am extremely proud of my accomplishments in various sports, I am equally proud of the awards I have received in academics. My father has always told me that when it comes to being a “student athlete” that the student comes first. I have always made my academics an important part of my life. I set a goal for myself of getting straight A’s throughout my years in school. Understanding that achieving A’s is getting harder and harder as I progress through school, but as of now I can happily say that I have achieved this goal. Currently I am taking AP and Pre-AP courses whenever possible. In addition, I am very proud of the fact that I was one of a few students selected, by a highly respected teacher, to move up one year in Math and join the Math AP for sophomores as a freshman. I will continue to work hard and strive in my academics. At my eight grade graduation, I received three awards which included “Athlete of the Year”, 4.0 recognition and “Daughters of the American Revolution Award”. Outside of sports and the classroom, I enjoy spending time with my family and underprivileged children. My family is extremely important to me. My parents are always there providing support and encouragement. My twin brother has been very helpful as he always pushes me to become better and encourages me to put everything I have to be successful. When it comes to helping underprivileged children, my grandparents exposed me to this at an early age.I took great pride in feeding the homeless families during the holidays. Recently, my high school basketball team served food and provided gifts during a Christmas party for the underprivileged. It is very emotional to see a large amount of young kids without a home and having very little. We handed out Santa gifts and it would bring tears to my eyes. For some of these kids, it appeared that they never had a Christmas before. I truly learned that the pleasure of giving far exceeds the pleasure of receiving. My goals in high school are to play four years of varsity basketball. In addition, I want to lead my team as a captain and to stress the importance of “team” basketball. Also, I want to lead the team in making the playoffs, which they haven’t done in some time. I would love the opportunity to play basketball at the next level, college. It is understood that only a small percentage is awarded this opportunity and I will work tirelessly in order to achieve this goal.Another goal of mine is to achieve a GPA of at least 4.4. I will continue to focus on my studies and be a great student in the classroom. I respect my teachers like I do my coaches. In college, I am thinking about focusing my studies in physical therapy, engineering or business sport management. I feel that physical therapy is a natural fit for me being an athlete. I enjoy helping others address their illnesses or injuries that limits their ability to function in their daily lives. Also, I am considering the field of engineering. I am taking my first engineering course as a freshman and really enjoy this class and plan to take additional courses in this area. My parents have been in the business of sport management for many years and I respect their accomplishments. I have many character traits. I will always give a 110% effort into everything I set out to accomplish. My hard work ethic shows as I am always the first one to practice and always the last one to leave. Another trait that is important to me is that I stress the importance of teamwork through encouragement. I encourage my teammates to work hard each and every day. I will encourage them play with enthusiasm and always respect the competition. A third character trait is that I am a very honest person. I gain the respect of my coaches and teammates with my honest behavior. I can be trusted to keep sensitive topics inside and avoid spreading rumors of any kind. The next character trait I have is that I am passionate. I am extremely passionate about the game of basketball and my academics. I will put forth whatever effort is needed for my team to be successful. I will do the same in my personal life as well. Lastly, I am competitive and want to win. I understand that being competitive and winning is not just what the scoreboard says. It is important to be competitive in a respectful way. That goes for the opposing team, referees, your team, fans and all others. My work ethic is something that I take very seriously. It starts with my integrity of the game. I want to study the game of basketball as much as I can to be successful. In addition, I want to be a leader on the court. I will embrace the opportunity of being the captain and taking on the responsibility of the results of the team. I will prepare myself with many hours of practice and prepare myself mentally for each and every game. Finally, my work ethic will show a great sense of teamwork. The sport of basketball is a team sport and the whole team must work together in achieving our ultimate goals. I feel strongly that in order to be successful whether on the basketball court or in life is make sure everyone on your team is rowing in the same direction.