Krystal Lewallen took her time, determined to make the right
choice in where to transfer. She was deciding between UCLA and
Louisiana-Lafayette, two schools with top-tier softball programs
that would both showcase her abilities inside the softball circle.
In the end, she opted for Louisiana-Lafayette. The Division II
Athlete of the Year had announced her intentions last month to
transfer from Northern Kentucky to one of the two schools, and
finalized her decision Friday to attend ULL by signing a national
letter of intent. “I had a great visit and was appreciative
of the players who took time from their summer breaks to welcome me
to the university,” said Lewallen in a statement released by
ULL. Lewallen visited Louisiana-Lafayette this past week, but
according to multiple reports, never visited UCLA. “I look
forward to the challenge of helping this team compete on the
national level,” Lewallen continued. Lewallen went 32-1 in
her junior year at Northern Kentucky, striking out 335 batters
while compiling a microscopic ERA of 0.36 en route to leading her
team to the Division II Women’s College World Series.
Reportedly, one of the holdups to Lewallen potentially transferring
to UCLA was academics. She would have had to choose a new major, as
UCLA does not offer an industrial labor relations major. According
to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Lewallen would have had to stay at UCLA
an additional year and a half to graduate on top of taking summer
school classes in Session C, while at ULL, she is still on track to
graduate in December. Multiple attempts to reach Lewallen at her
home in Crestwood, Ky., failed. Had Lewallen gone to UCLA, she
could have given the NCAA runners-up added pitching depth, as UCLA
only carries two true pitchers on its roster ““ Anjelica
Selden and Lisa Dodd. Instead, she will likely be the ace of a
Ragin’ Cajuns squad that went 51-10 a year ago and fell in
the NCAA Regionals. “We are getting a person who is very
gifted and has had much success at the national level,” ULL
co-head coach Michael Lotief said in a statement.
“She’s an impact pitcher, as evidenced by the fact of
her Player of the Year honors, record, strikeouts, ERA and being
pursued by UCLA.” UCLA coach Sue Enquist was out of town over
the weekend and did not return phone calls on the matter.
ENQUIST GETS KUDOS: Enquist was given the C. Vivian Stringer
Award on Saturday night by the U.S. Sports Academy at the
school’s graduation ceremony in Mobile, Ala. The award is
given annually to someone who has experienced outstanding
achievement as a coach and a person who has shown a high standard
of propriety, imagination and innovation as a character-builder in
the tradition of great teachers and coaches. Enquist has been a
part of all 11 national softball championships at UCLA as either a
player, assistant coach or head coach. UCLA women’s track and
field coach Jeanette Bolden won the award a year ago. The award,
given out for the fifth straight year, was named for the
women’s basketball coaching legend who is the only coach in
her sport to have ever taken three different schools to the Final
Four.
RECRUITING UPDATE: Over the past couple of weeks, UCLA has
picked up verbal commitments from three of the top recruits of the
class of 2006, according to multiple reports. Pitcher Whitney Baker
(Vancouver, Wash.), catcher Kaila Shull (El Camino) and shortstop
Bianca Mejia (Lodi) are considered by many recruiting experts to be
the top recruits at their positions for the Class of 2006. Once
they sign with UCLA during the NCAA signing period, which starts in
November, the three players would start playing for the Bruins in
the 2007 season. UCLA had no seniors on its squad that lost in the
NCAA Championship game this past June, but will have four seniors
play on its team in 2006.