James signs with University of Montana
SANDPOINT — The University of Montana volleyball team, which had been courting Sandpoint’s Koko James for the better part of two years, was rewarded on Wednesday when the senior setter signed a full-ride scholarship to play for the Grizzlies.
The coaches were so interested in James that they attended a handful of her games this season in Sandpoint, making the three and a half hour trek to come watch a future player.
James, who now follows in the footsteps of older sisters Jenny (Idaho State) and Kelsey (Idaho) as college volleyball players, picked Montana for all the right reasons.
“I liked the players, coaches and campus. I’m really going to enjoy it,” said James, sharing some of the advice she received from her sisters heading off to college. “Love it while you’re playing, it goes fast.”
James, who won two state titles as a four-year setter at Sandpoint, gave a verbal commitment to the Griz last spring, prior to her senior year. Sandpoint head coach Karen Alsager, who starred at Idaho and also coached in college, believes James will be a “fabulous” college player.
“Everything will get bigger and faster for her, and she’ll rise to that level. She’s really going to miss her friends, but she’ll make new ones; she’s very likable,” said Alsager, adding that the Montana coaches really expressed a strong interest in James, calling the recruiting old-fashioned. “You don’t see that as much these days. It says a lot about how they’re going to treat her.”
James and her parents, Randy and Kathy James, will be wined and dined this weekend on their official visit. Among the highlights will be attending the final home volleyball game, a dinner at the Depot, and complimentary tickets to both the Griz football game against Northern Colorado and a Griz basketball game against Boise State on Saturday.
On Wednesday, James was surrounded by many of the people who were instrumental in her career, including Alsager, her parents, and club coach Jack Dyck, who has coached James for more than five years. Her mom said “don’t sign it Koko, sign it Kortney, please” as James signed the paper. Both parents plan to attend all of her home games, and as many as the regional ones as they can make, as they did with their previous two daughters.
“A lot of people have played a part in her success,” said Randy James, who nicknamed his youngest daughter Koko at a young age. “We’re pretty blessed, pretty lucky and very fortunate.”
As are the Montana Grizzlies.