Where are they now? Women’s basketball
After discussing the former Utah Valley men’s basketball players that no longer wear Wolverine jerseys, for a number of reasons, it’s only fitting to discuss their counterparts. The women’s basketball team didn’t see too many roster spots open up from transfers or graduations. Nevertheless, looking at last year’s team picture to this year, a few faces are missing.
Sophia Jacobsson:
Sophia Jacobsson played in 49 games in the two years she was enrolled at UVU. Her highlights came during her sophomore year when she played 29 games while averaging 3.6 points per game. She averaged 43% from the field, giving her 104 points on the season. On Dec. 6, 2018 Jacobsson scored a career high 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting, shooting 1-of-2 from behind the arc. This was one of four games her sophomore season that she reached the double-digit mark in points scored.
She transferred to California State University, San Marcos, a Division II school in San Marcos, California. Sophia grew up roughly three hours away in San Clarita, California. The Cougars currently have an impressive overall record of 15-4 and a conference record of 10-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Jacobsson has played in eight of the Cougars 19 games and has scored in three of those, at two points a piece.
One would venture to say the circumstances of her playing isn’t what she was hoping for, after not a lot of playing time at UVU. It’s safe to say she transferred to San Marcos to be closer to her family. She still has the rest of this season and one more, to prove her skills on the court.
Kamaile Kandiah:
A native to Honolulu, Hawaii, Kandiah started her college basketball career in 2017. She redshirted due to an injury, giving her one extra year of eligibility to play college basketball. In the 2018-2019 season she stepped on the court in 10 total games. She scored in one of those games where she knocked down a pair of free throws and a field goal for a total of four points.
Kandiah is now a certified nursing assistant at the University of Utah Health and a research assistant intern at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She is on the Pre-medical track. All of this information came from Kamaile’s LinkedIn profile.
Emma Jones:
Freshman Emma Jones, a Utah native, played high school basketball at Richfield High School. She was named All-State first team by the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. She saw minutes in 24 of the Wolverines 30 games, where she started in the first six.
The highlight of the season came in just the second game of her college career. She put up a career high 13 points, shooting 60% from the field, 75% from the deep ball and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. It was also the game she saw the most playing time at 31 minutes.
Jones is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Portland, Oregon.
Who’s Next:
UVU has many sports with plenty of other athletes to learn about. Who knows, maybe we will find a few playing professional sports somewhere across the world.
Photo courtesy of UVU Athletics