Umpqua women’s basketball head coach Dave Stricklin has announced that Darian Mitchell, an Oregon 4A 1st Team All-State performer from Douglas High School (Winston, OR), has signed a letter of intent to play for the RiverHawks next season.
Besides being named to the All-State team, the 5’11 Mitchell was also named the Far West League’s Co-MVP while averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds a game in route to breaking her school’s career scoring record set in 2000, by Douglas legend Jennifer (Bell) O’Toole. Along the way Mitchell had several impressive games including a 31 point, 18 rebound outing against Henley and a 29 points, 17 rebound game versus North Valley.
Not only is Mitchell an outstanding basketball player but she has been extremely successful in three other sports. As a middle blocker and outside hitter on the Douglas volleyball team, she was honored as the Far West League’s MVP and was named 2nd Team All State. As a softball player Mitchell was a 1st Team All-League infielder and most recently at the state track meet she finished 3rd in the state in the javelin and 4th in the state in the shot put. Her javelin throw shattered the Douglas High School record by over 10 feet.
According to Coach Stricklin it is Mitchell’s athletic versatility that will make her such a valuable part of his basketball team. “From an athletic standpoint, Darian has proven that she can pretty much do it all – she’s extremely strong, runs well, has great reaction time and can master new skills very quickly. That kind of versatility will allow her to eventually play multiple positions for us and to impact the game in several different ways.”
Umpqua’s Department of Athletics is composed of nine varsity sports teams including four men's teams (basketball, cross country, wrestling and obstacle course racing), and five women's teams (basketball, cross country, volleyball, wrestling and obstacle course racing). Umpqua is a member of the Northwest Athletic Conference in all sports except men’s and women’s wrestling and obstacle course racing. For men’s wrestling UCC belongs to the National Junior College Athletic Association and for women’s wrestling, the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association. For more information, please visit www.uccriverhawks.com. Follow RiverHawk Athletics at www.facebook.com/Umpqua-RiverHawk-Athletics and also on Twitter @uccriverhawks.
