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NIC point guard Stirton commits to Gonzaga

 When she came here last year from Melbourne, Australia, North Idaho College point guard Georgia Stirton thought her stay in Coeur d'Alene would be a short one.
Well, after this past weekend, Australia will have to wait for her a little while longer.
Stirton, a second-team NJCAA All-American last season as a freshman, verbally committed to Gonzaga University on Saturday, effective the 2014-15 season.
"I never in a million years expected anything like this," the 5-foot-8 Stirton said. "I thought after two years of junior college basketball, I'd be back home."
Stirton, who averaged 8.8 points and nearly 4 assists per game, and helped NIC qualify for nationals last year, will have two years of eligibility to play at Gonzaga.
Stirton said she also had a scholarship offer from Idaho, and made an official visit to the Moscow campus recently. Her official visit to GU was this past weekend, and she was offered a scholarship on Saturday. She said she had a couple other offers, and likely would have scheduled more official visits had Gonzaga not offered.
"Their success over the years is just outstanding," Stirton said. "Just being in this part of the state it's like home now, I don't want to leave. It's going to be a challenge academically and basketball wise."
The Bulldogs have made five straight trips to the NCAA tournament, and six in the last seven seasons.
"One thing we always tell our players (when they're being recruited) - are they looking for your position this year?" NIC women's coach Chris Carlson said. "That's the thing that made it really possible; he (Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves) has got two senior guards (Haiden Palmer and Jazmine Redmon) that are going to be moving on. A couple of his assistants were over here last year at regionals, and they loved her. They (the Bulldogs) have had her on their radar."
Stirton would be the first NIC women's basketball player to play at Gonzaga since Carlson, who is in his 10th season with the Cardinals, took over.
"I think it's a good fit," Carlson said. "She's the most offensively skilled ballhandler I've ever coached. I think that's what they liked about here. I think Georgia does some of the toughest things in basketball the best. She has the ability to penetrate and create offense, whether it's her own or for somebody else."
Stirton said she's glad to have her decision out of the way prior to basketball season.
"It feels so good; I can just concentrate on my grades and focus on basketball," she said. "We've got to get back to nationals."