Montaya Dew to sign with Wildcats on Wednesday, hopes to dunk in December

UA recruit Montaya Dew has a surprise for coach Adia Barnes.

She’s learning how to dunk.

Dew, who is listed at 6 feet 2 inches, is getting is closer and closer. She hopes to clear the rim sometime in the next seven weeks before she enrolls early at the UA.

Dew and two other Wildcats recruits will sign their national letters-of-intent on Wednesday.

“Just growing up in seeing older teammates or friends go through the whole process of signing and taking the next steps in their life and their career has always been inspiring to me,” Dew said. “And now that it’s my turn to finally take my next steps. (I’m) truly grateful and super excited. And especially signing with Arizona, I couldn’t be happier.”

The versatile forward out of Las Vegas Centennial High School is rated No. 8 in the 2023 class by ESPN Hoop Gulrz. She verbally committed to the UA in December.

Dew is part of a Arizona’s three-player (for now) signing class. Breya Cunningham (No. 14) and Jada Williams (No. 21) are teammates at La Jolla Country Day in San Diego. Cunningham is a post player and Williams is point guard.

Arizona remains in the mix for two more players. Juju Watkins, a California guard and the No. 1 player in the class, has yet to make her college choice. Neither has Cassandre Prosper, a forward from Canada.

As recently as a few weeks ago, Arizona had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. Shane Laflin, head of Premier Basketball Report and the man who handles recruiting for Hoop Gurlz, said he expects Arizona’s class to finish in the top 5 — likely at No. 2 or No. 3.

Dew — and her dunk — could garner headlines right away. Just a few women’s players have ever dunked in a game. West Virginia’s Georgeann Wells made dunk history in 1984; she has since been followed by Charlotte Smith, Michelle Snow, Sancho Lyttle, Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner and, most recently, Stanford’s Fran Belibi.

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Dew frequently watches videos of Parker, as well as NBA standouts Ja Morant and Zion Williamson.

“I really like watching Candace Parker’s videos and I watch more guys jumping up because they have higher explosives. Being able to watch the little muscles that they use in their legs and then applying it on the court,” Dew said.

Dunking was always a dream for Dew, but it didn’t become a real goal until after her freshman year in high school. Her plan then was to dunk before heading to college.

Working with trainer Mike Josserand, Dew is focusing on footwork and strengthening the muscles needed to jump higher.

Those skills should also help her rebounding and shot-blocking ability.

Josserand is “really creative with the drills,” Dew said. “(On Monday) we worked on a drill where we had a medicine ball, a half one, and I had to jump on it and balance and do that four times in a row on four different balls. That’s one of the bouncing workouts. For lateral movement we worked on stopping with our feet and having to build strength in our legs and our calves and just so we can apply that to our game on the court. … just understanding my body and the muscles I need to use to perform specific actions.”

While she will be arriving in Tucson in December, right before the Pac-12 season starts. She likely won’t make her UA debut until next season.

Still, Dew said she can’t wait to be “cheering the team on and being the support from the bench.”

“I’m really excited to be there. I love the Wildcats,” Dew said. “Being in McKale (Center) on my unofficial (visit), I sat next to some older people and they were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Just being in the community at Arizona, it’s completely different. I’m just super excited to be a part of it.”