Clyde's Cahill commits to Indiana University

By MARK HAZELWOOD
hazelwood@sanduskyregister.com
CLYDE
In 49 other states, it's just basketball.
Then there is Indiana.
In what could be shaping up to be a quick turnaround, the Indiana University women's basketball team added another star recruit to its 2014 class as 6-foot-2 Clyde junior forward Amanda Cahill gave her verbal commitment to IU Wednesday night.
"I'm really excited to be a part of the Hoosier family and the great things that will happen at IU," Cahill said. "I felt really comfortable with the coaching staff on my visits. I'm excited to be a part of what they are building at Indiana."
The Hoosiers are led by first year coach Curt Miller, who Cahill formed a relationship with when the coach was at Bowling Green State University. In 11 seasons at BGSU, Miller finished an impressive 258-92, including five NCAA tournament bids in the last eight seasons.
After losing six seniors from a successful 2010-11 team, Miller coached the Falcons to a 24-7 record last season, earning Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honors for a record sixth time.
IU bottomed out to a 6-24 record (1-15 in the Big Ten) last season, prompting the school to pluck Miller from BG. He's got the Hoosiers off to an early 6-3 start this season, already matching last season's win total.
"Amanda first saw Coach Miller run a practice at BGSU when she was eight years old," Clyde head coach John Cahill, Amanda's father, said. "She has really connected with the staff at Indiana. She fits the system IU runs very well and will have an opportunity to be a part of something very special there.
"IU has one of the top optometry programs in the world, which makes it very attractive from both a basketball and an academic standpoint."
Cahill, who recently just scored her 1,000th career point at Clyde in just 55 games, will join two other early commits at IU, including Mt. Carmel, Ill. star guard Tyra Buss.
Buss, a 5-7 guard, is averaging 33.5 points per game in her career and is on pace to eclipse 4,000 points total. She recently made national headlines for scoring 91 points in back-to-back games in a single day, finishing with 40 and 51 points each game.
Also joining Cahill and Buss is 5-11 wing Jessica Walter from Midland, Mich. She is the No.3 player in the state of Michigan from the 2014 class.
"Coach Miller is bringing in very talented players," Amanda Cahill said. "I'm definitely looking forward to playing with them and seeing what we can do."
Clyde is an impressive 53-3 during Cahill's two-plus seasons, reaching the state semifinals during her freshman year and falling in the regional championship last season. The Lady Fliers are off to a 5-0 start this season and visit Perkins Saturday afternoon.
She was Division II All-Ohio second team as a freshman, and last season earned the All-Ohio Player of the Year honor. On top of the impressive on court resume, Cahill is also a 4.0 student and currently ranked No. 1 in her class academically.
Cahill had nearly a dozen offers from Div. I schools and made several high-profile visits before settling on IU, where she will play home games at historic Assembly Hall in front of capacity crowds.
"I knew the coaches and loved the campus and facilities," she said. "I'm their third 2014 commit, so it is early, but I knew that's where I wanted to go."