Marie Olson and Kassidy DeLapp have spent years thinking about next Wednesday. They've watched others speak into microphones, don their new school's baseball caps, even add a little drama to keep the crowd guessing.
Now it's their turn.
"I'm so excited," said Olson, who will be among hundreds of high school seniors signing national letters of intent next week. "I've had this date circled for so long.
"I've already picked out my outfit: red Converse, blue jeans and a white long-sleeve shirt that says 'SMU.'"
On the same day and in the same place -- the Oak Ridge gym in El Dorado Hills, California -- DeLapp also will make her choice official. She's signing with Oklahoma State.
"People are proud -- that's the word that keeps popping up." Kassidy DeLapp
DeLapp said her outfit is set all the way down to her orange-and-black socks.
"Marie and I," DeLapp said, "are going to look good as we sign."
It will be a historic signing day for the Oak Ridge girls' basketball program. Coach Steve White, who took over for the 1995-96 season, has had two Division I signees over the past 22 years. He will double that total on Wednesday. (He could have had three, but Shayley Harris, who is expected to sign with UCLA, transferred over the summer.)
Maybe the Oak Ridge name doesn't resonate quite as much as California basketball powers such as Mater Dei, St. Mary's and Windward, but the Trojans have built a solid reputation. Located 20 miles east of Sacramento and 50 miles west of Lake Tahoe, it has grown in enrollment from 1,300 when White arrived to 2,500 today. The school's basketball reputation has grown, too.
"We are one of the few public high schools in California to have made the state playoffs 12 years in a row," White said. "I'm very proud of what our players, coaches and our community have been able to do because we don't recruit. We only get the players who live within our boundaries."
Moving from Minnesota
The Olson family landed in those boundaries in August 2016 when dad Jon was relocated from Minnesota to California for his job with a utility company. The decision came as a shock to Marie, the oldest of four children.
"I cried a lot," said Olson, who had settled in at Apple Valley. "There were a lot of tears when we realized, 'Oh my gosh. We're actually moving to California. That's really far.'
"Having grown up with all those kids since elementary school, it was emotional to think I wasn't going to graduate with them."
It would've been worse had it not been for basketball. As nervous as she was about switching states, schools and classmates, Olson said basketball provided her with the opportunity to make "fast friends."
Olson, who has a 3.6 GPA and hopes to become an orthodontist, adapted so quickly that she was named Oak Ridge's only junior captain last season.
"Marie communicates well, understands the game and is full of energy," White said. "She has a bubbly personality, but put her on the court, and she'll do whatever it takes to win. Her teammates love her."
Even so, Olson had many adjustments to make.
California, unlike Minnesota, plays with a shot clock and quarters instead of halves. Olson said California teams also play a faster style with more 3-pointers and less use for a traditional post player.
Once Olson knew she was moving, she told her AAU coaches in Minnesota to develop her game in three areas: drives to the basket, 3-pointers and pull-up jumpers. The plan worked, and Olson averaged 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season on a balanced team.
"She can handle the ball well," White said. "She can extend with her perimeter shooting, and she rebounds."
Fast feet
DeLapp is the youngest of three siblings, and everyone in her immediate family has her same "KD" initials.
That includes her dad, Keith, who is 6-foot-6 and played junior college water polo; her mother, Kathy, who is 6-0 and played junior college basketball; her brother, Kyler; and her sister, Krosby.
Kassidy, a 6-3 forward who averaged 8.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season, is the best athlete in the family.
"She has guard skills, even for someone her size," White said. "She can bring the ball up against pressure. She has worked on her perimeter game and can knock down open 3-pointers as well as play with her back to the basket.
"Defensively, she covers a lot of ground with her footwork and can really get out to challenge shooters."
Perhaps one reason her footwork is so good is that DeLapp spent three years training in the art of Irish dance.
"We're an Irish family, and my mother really wanted me and my sister to do it," said Kassidy, who "Riverdanced" from ages 5 to 8. "It was cool at first, but it was hard. I would always look down at my feet, and you're not supposed to do that."
DeLapp eventually grew weary of all the rules.
"It's so strict," she said. "Your hands have to be glued to your side, and your feet have to be pointed in a certain way. If they aren't, the judges deduct points."
DeLapp finally quit Irish dance, preferring to play basketball, a sport she had always loved since shooting ball after ball as a child in her family's driveway. But even so, her dance background has helped her in basketball.
"You have to have movement and use your body right to be a good basketball player," she said. "And I think you can see that in the way I play."
White also has noticed DeLapp is "not afraid of the big moments" in games. And Wednesday's big moment is something else she'll savor.
DeLapp said she attended her first signing-day ceremony years ago, and she's stoked that so many of her friends and family members will be there. The list includes her parents, brother, grandmother, aunt, AAU coach and trainer as well as a close friend from another school.
"Ever since my freshman year, I've wanted to be on that stage, representing my [future] college," DeLapp said. "I looked up to those seniors, and now I can be somebody else's role model.
"Everyone is really proud of me and Marie. Signing with D-I schools is something that doesn't happen all the time in girls' basketball. People are proud -- that's the word that keeps popping up."
