4-star 2023 forward Montaya Dew commits to Arizona women’s basketball

Centennial High School in Las Vegas, Nev. gave Arizona head coach Adia Barnes her first top 100 recruit when fifth-year senior Sam Thomas committed to play for the Wildcats. Now, it has given Barnes her first commit in the 2023 class with the verbal pledge of four-star forward Montaya Dew.

Dew has risen steadily in the ESPN HoopGurlz class of 2023 rankings. She went from unranked to No. 23 in May. She now stands at No. 19.

The national accolades have come with her rise in the rankings. Dew has been named to the 2021-22 Naismith Trophy watch list for underclassmen.

Premier Basketball, which handles the HoopGurlz rankings, wrote on May 25, 2021, “Dew has spent most of her young career as a frontcourt player, but despite the fact [that] Centennial did not officially play a high school season, she improved her ability to create off the bounce and improved her 3-point accuracy. With her added perimeter game, she can also score with her back to the basket and in face-up opportunities.”

The team at Premier also noted that Dew has developed the ability to play “some point-forward.”

Centennial High regularly provides Division I talent to teams all over the U.S. In addition to Thomas, the program currently has alumnae at UNLV, Oregon, and Syracuse.

In addition to playing for Centennial, Dew plays club ball for Team Militant out of Sacramento, Calif.

Dew released her final 12 in September. In addition to Arizona, the list included North Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Louisville, and Virginia, as well as fellow Pac-12 teams Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Oregon.

Interview with the Las Vegas Sun during high school media day on Nov. 29, 2021

Highlights