Newcastle's Leilani Mitchell feels "honoured", describes the University of Utah (UOU) as a place "dear to my heart" and reckons her time there ensured she took the "next step" towards becoming a professional basketball player.
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This followed the Opals point guard, Rio Olympian and two-time WNBA most improved, who lives at Hamilton, being inducted into the UOU hall of fame.
The 34-year-old joined fellow national player, Sydney Kings marquee and 2015 NBA champion Andrew Bogut on the honour roll.
"I'm honoured to be inducted into the University of Utah hall of fame," Mitchell told the Newcastle Herald on Friday.
"I couldn't have asked for a better experience, both on and off the court. And for that reason Utah is a place I will always hold close to my heart. My time there prepared me to make the next step to the WNBA and becoming a professional basketball player. I'm forever in debt to the university, my coaches and most of my teammates who made it so much fun."
Eight former students have been unveiled by UOU, with an official celebration set for September pending any coronavirus restrictions still in place later this year.
UOU athletics director Mark Harlan said the 2020 class was "great" in both "quantity" and "quality".
While at UOU in 2007-08, Mitchell claimed the Mountain West Conference team title and individual player of the year award.
She averaged 16.8 points and 7.5 assists per game.
The newest group of inductees also features Anthony Brown, Alex Smith, Eddie Johnson (American football), Casey Child (baseball), Amy Timmel Hogue (softball) and Lori Baird (volleyball).
"This is a great class, in quantity and absolutely in quality," Harlan released in a statement on the UOU website this week.
"Their accomplishments as University of Utah student athletes are well documented and just phenomenal, but they are also such good people who went on to do great things after they left our campus and brought great distinction to Utah Athletics."
On Twitter, the WNBL described it as "awesome news" while the Southside Flyers sent well wishes to "our very own" Mitchell.
Basketball Australia posted: "A big congratulations to @LeilaniM5 and @andrewbogut who have both been named as inductees in the @utahathletics 2020 Hall of Fame".
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