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The primary purpose for Arizona State women’s basketball’s Thanksgiving weekend in Vegas is for the No. 19 Sun Devils to test themselves against No. 5 Louisville.
For the Van Hyfte family, though, it means an unexpected chance for sisters Jayde, a freshman at Arizona State, and Celina, a redshirt senior at Southern Illinois, to play against each other for the first time.
Their parents Ted and Valerie, grandparents and some other relatives will be in attendance Saturday, walking the down-the-middle cheering line and mostly celebrating how far the kids have come from tiny Annawan, Ill. Another Van Hyfte sister, Morgan, is a redshirt sophomore at Division II Central Missouri after starting her college career at Division I Illinois State.
“When we heard about this game, we were both surprised,” Jayde said. “We’ve never had the opportunity to play each other and now in her last season we finally get the opportunity. It’s really special, and I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Anawan is a town of fewer than 1,000 in northwest Illinois, not far from the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River.
Ted made it from Annawan High to Wake Forest in football while Val starred in basketball in another small Illinois town (Atkinson) and at Bradley University. They knew the blueprint for their daughters but still for all three to make it to the major college level from such a humble start is beyond any reasonable expectation.
While Jayde’s ASU career is just beginning — she played in two of ASU’s first three games going into Friday against Louisville — Celina has played in 91, mostly as a reserve, for the Saluki, now 3-2 after a 72-50 win over Hartford on Friday.
“I always knew it would be challenging coming here,” Jayde said. “But I’m trying to adjust well. I feel like I’m getting better already so that’s a really big positive. I’m really looking forward to the next four years here.
“This year especially Charli (Turner Thorne) doesn’t expect me to be a leading scorer or have many points. But she wants me to go in there and play good defense and get rebounds. Obviously if I can score, that’s just a plus.”
Turner Thorne struck gold recruiting Sophie Brunner from Freeport, Ill., and hopes for the same with Van Hyfte, who had 114 double-doubles in 119 high school games and finished with a school record 2,775 points. The 6-1 forward is fast and athletic and has a role even as a freshman on a veteran team.
“I’m learning a lot obviously,” Van Hyfte said. “Our upperclassmen have taught me a lot and our coaches are really positive.”
She lives with ASU’s three other freshmen, who come from Spain, Canada and Washington and from much different backgrounds than Van Hyfte. Her roomies kid her about coming from the smallest town in the United States, which isn’t technically true but she understands the curiosity.
“They ask me what do you do there,” Van Hyfte said. “I’m like well, we farm. It’s nice because everybody knows each other and we have that community. It’s been awesome growing up there. And they ask me how the transition is from there to here. I used to play AAU (with Illinois Elite) and had that experience in Chicago and meeting new people so it wasn’t that big of a change. I miss my family obviously, but that’s pretty much the only obstacle I face coming here.
“It’s brought so many more opportunities coming here. I’m really enjoying it so far.”
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