Sayvia Sellers
The University of Washington has won the Sayvia Sellers sweepstakes.
The nationally ranked Class of 2023 guard out of Anchorage announced on social media that she has committed to the University of Washington.
The 5-foot-7 four-star recruit picked the Huskies over fellow frontrunners Texas A&M and Duke.
Sellers is a bona fide McDonald’s All-American candidate ranked No. 26 nationally and has already asserted herself as one of the greatest high school players in Alaska history.
“She is smooth,” Wasilla girls coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said.
Hebert-Truax is Alaska basketball royalty, a former Freshman All-American and All-Big East player in the early 1990s at the University of Miami. She’s incredibly impressed by Sellers.
“She can dribble, pass, shoot. She is good at delivering the ball to teammates. Her transition pull up is good. Very agile. Good moving from left to right.”
Huge pickup for UW, Sayvia Sellers is the point guard commit they've been waiting for #GoHuskies 💜💛 https://t.co/Ph9TNhniiG
— #UDUBWBB (@UDUBWBB) August 26, 2022
An overwhelming favorite to repeat as Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year, Sellers has never lost a game in her home state, posting a 53-0 record at ACS and leading the Lions to three state titles.
At this year’s ASAA Class 4A state tournament, she averaged 20.7 points and 9.0 assists as ACS ran its in-state winning streak to 99 games, breaking Ninilchik’s once-considered unbreakable 97-game record. At the 2021 state tournament, she registered her career high of 41 points.
But that’s not what got her to the Pac-12 Conference. To get national notoriety she had to go Outside and showcase her talents against Lower 48 competition, which she did. Often. Sellers has been sensational over the last two years, rising to the occasion and making an impression with college coaches.
She first made her name in 2021 when she played with a Jason Kidd AAU team for some summer events. It was then that her dribble-drive-dish arsenal dismantled defenders and opened eyes, leading to a slew of offers from Power Five conferences.
This summer she played with Alaska TruGame and led the team to a U17 title at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chicago. Sellers averaged 27 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists across six games and took command in the championship game, pumping in 31 points in a 61-60 victory.
Anchorage’s Sayvia Sellers lets one fly at the 2022 state tournament. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Sellers’ skills, success and upside have drawn comparisons to Anchorage’s Laura Ingham, the greatest small guard from Alaska.
The 5-foot-4 Ingham was a two-time player of the year in 1998 and 1999 at East and averaged 30 points as a senior. She went on to play at Ohio State and Nevada.
Sellers is not only a little bigger, but Ingham said Sellers is a better shooter.
“I knew how to score whenever I wanted but I wasn’t a drop-dead shooter like her,” Ingham said.
Sellers also has mad handles and a lavish layup package, so not only can she create space but can can finish, too.
In going to Washington, Sellers will continue a pattern of elite Alaska women going to the Pac-12.
PAC-12 WOMEN FROM ALASKA
Molly Tuter (Soldotna) Arizona State 93-97
Mendy Benson (Kenai) Oregon 96-98
Azella Perryman (East) Stanford 01-05
Natalie Jones (East) Arizona 02-06
Talisa Rhea (Juneau-Douglas) Oregon State 07-10
Ruthy Hebard (West Valley) Oregon 16-20
Alissa Pili (Dimond) USC, Utah 19-
Sayvia Sellers (ACS) Washington 23-