Mariah Melendez, a senior pitcher/utility player at Sunlake High School, has verbally committed to play softball at Ave Maria University, an NAIA program in Ave Maria. Melendez has proven to be one of the county’s top two-way players the last three seasons. In 358 career innings, Melendez has racked up 35 wins, to go along with a 2.91 ERA, 193 strikeouts and 42 complete games. At the plate, Melendez has a career .407 batting average, tallying 108 hits, 51 RBIs and 75 runs. Also a threat on the base paths, Melendez has 32 career steals.
Ashley Sieper, an Odessa resident who attends Tampa Catholic, has verbally committed to play basketball at Boston University, an NCAA Division I program in Boston, Massachusetts. The 6-foot-2 power forward averaged 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game for the Crusaders last season, which reached the Class 5A regional finals. ESPN.com ranks Sieper as a three-star recruit and the nation’s 42nd best post prospect for the 2018 recruiting class.
Darin Green Jr., a 6-foot-4 junior shooting guard at Wharton High School, has picked up a basketball scholarship from Rider (New Jersey) University, marking his second Division I offer in as many weeks. Green Jr., who helped guide Wharton High to a 20-6 mark and Class 8A regional quarterfinal last season, recently earned an offer from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.
The Saint Leo University women’s basketball team has picked up a verbal commitment from Tampa Catholic guard Lenise Santiago. The 5-foot-8 junior averaged 8.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1. steals per game last season.
Former Wiregrass Ranch defensive back Shamaur McDowell, now a senior at IMG Academy in Bradenton, has decommitted from the University of Minnesota. The 5-foot-11, 184-pound McDowell, who originally committed to Minnesota on June 11, recently made the announcement on Twitter. McDowell, a three-star prospect ranked among the nation’s top 150 cornerbacks for the 2018 class, has offers from North Carolina State, Washington State, Central Florida, South Florida, Purdue and Iowa State universities, among others, according to 247sports.com.
