EARLY BASKETBALL SIGNINGS : Peninsula High’s 4 Standouts Put Their College Plans in Writing

Citing a desire to avoid the commotion created by recruiters, four Peninsula High girls’ basketball players announced Thursday night their intentions to attend Division I universities in the fall.

About 40 people in the Panther gym watched as the four seniors--guards Kristen Mulligan and Raquel Alotis, center Jeffra Gausepohl and forward Monique Morehouse--signed letters of intent.

Mulligan and Morehouse will attend Auburn, Alotis is going to UC Santa Barbara and Gausepohl will join former Palos Verdes standouts Heather and Heidi Burge at Virginia.

The four players led Palos Verdes to CIF and Division III state titles last season and moved to Peninsula when their school, Rolling Hills and Miraleste merged in September.

Along with sophomore forward Mimi McKinney, the starting lineup returns intact. Street & Smith magazine has rated Peninsula the top high school team in the nation.

The 5-foot-7 Mulligan, who was the CIF co-MVP last season, averaged 12.5 points per game. Alotis averaged 10.6 points and three steals.

The 6-3 Morehouse, an All-CIF forward, averaged 11.4 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-5 Gausepohl, an All-CIF center, averaged 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“What we have here are four ladies who worked very hard to get where they’re at both on and off the court,” said Peninsula Coach Wendell Yoshida, who coached the players at Palos Verdes last season.

In 11 years as Sea King coach, Yoshida has sent a passel of players to Division I schools. Three years ago, he sent two from one team: the Burges.

But placing four players in big-time college programs is believed to be an unprecedented achievement.

“We all know that four players going to Division I is unusual, but that’s the kind of team we have,” Gausepohl said. “We’re really balanced and all of us have our own jobs, and doing that together has allowed us to achieve our goals and have the kind of success that we’ve had.”

Virginia and Auburn are perennial women’s basketball powers that have made trips to the Final Four in past seasons. Mulligan is aware that much will be expected of her.

“I feel there will be some pressure at that level,” she said. “We’ll be playing with and against that one percent that is good enough to play college basketball. There is some pressure living up to those expectations.”

Each player took four recruiting trips before settling on their colleges and each took advantage of the one-week signing period that began Wednesday, largely to avoid nightly calls they would have received from college recruiters.

“The reason we signed early was to have a clear mind so we can concentrate on the upcoming season here,” Alotis said. “We didn’t want the pressures of coaches calling every night while we’re trying to play the season.”