Sifting through letters and Division I offers, one school was always in the back of Julia Dalan’s mind.
It was the one that gave her an offer on Christmas Day last year. It was the one she has been on its campus multiple times since middle school.
Now, it is the one that she has decided to call home for the next handful of years.
Dalan, the soon-to-be all-time leading scorer at W.F. West High School, committed to the University of Portland to continue her basketball career. The 6-foot-4 forward will sign in the November signing period.
“I was the most comfortable with Portland,” Dalan said. “Why would I wait if that is where I wanted to go? It came kind of full circle. I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
There were more than a few D-I programs that were out for Dalan’s signage on a letter of intent. The difference between the Pilots and others? Honesty.
Dalan was able to see a practice and coaches discussed the plan they had for her. And there wasn’t any, as Dalan put it, “sugarcoating.”
“They told me straight up how it was,” she added. “I was able to see the real side of it and that opened my eyes a lot. I always had the easiest time talking to them (the coaches).”
She’s been on campus four times total. An added bonus of location, just 110 minutes away from Chehalis, was another selling point.
Even though it wasn’t the main factor, Dalan admitted her parents were quite happy when it was finalized.
After I made my decision, I remember my parents saying ‘I will say, I’m glad you’re close to home,’” Dalan recalled.
The Pilots are coming off two straight West Coast Conference championships that nabbed them automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament. They kept it competitive with Kansas State a couple months ago, but lost by 11 in the first round.
At 21-10 overall and 10-6 in the WCC, Portland finished in the top half of the league standings in the regular season.
It is an environment and culture Dalan is looking forward to being a part of.
“There is always room to grow and I’m really excited to see how far we go in the years I play with them,” Dalan said. “I want to grow as a player and come in with an open mind and be able to show quick, effective improvement so I can have an impact.”
First, Dalan wants to go out with a bang in her senior season. W.F. West lost two starters from a state tournament appearance and came one victory away from leaving Yakima with a trophy.
With the core returning, there are goals to return to the east side and leave with some hardware.
“We’re still building with our team and finding that new chemistry,” Dalan said. “I’m really excited to see how far we’ll be able to go.”
