Bolingbrook's big day: 2 girls, 2 boys go D-I

Satavia Taylor (left) and her Bolingbrook teammate Candace Nevels laugh along with their head coach Tony Smith at National Signing Day. Taylor signed with Loyola and Nevels signed with Murray State.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Herald News)

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BOLINGBROOK -- The Bolingbrook High School girls have been living in the basketball spotlight, but for now at least, they will have to share it with the boys.

Two girls in coach Anthony Smith's outstanding program, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation by ESPN, signed national letters of intent Wednesday with NCAA Division I schools. But not to be outdone, two boys in coach Rob Brost's program, which has been ranked in the top five in the state, also cast their lots with D-I programs.

The guests of honor at the extended signing ceremony were seniors Satavia Taylor, Candace Nevels, Troy Snyder and Diamond Taylor.

Taylor signed with Loyola of Chicago, Nevels with Murray State, Snyder with Wisconsin-Green Bay and Taylor, who transferred from Westchester St. Joseph and will be playing his first and only season at Bolingbrook, with Wisconsin.

"Yes, we still have practice today," Smith joked as the celebration of his girls signing their letters kicked up a notch. "We have work to do."

Smith said he has known Taylor and Nevels since they were in sixth grade.

"They played on a club team for me, and I knew early on that they had potential," he said. "It's cool to see them both get offers to play Division I ball."

This is not the first time Division I programs have come knocking. During Smith's tenure, 11 Bolingbrook girls have signed with Division I programs.

"I was looking at Binghamton in New York, Loyola and Wichita State," said the 6-foot Taylor, a three-year starter who averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds last season, when she was a Herald News first team all-area guard/forward and a special-mention all-state pick.

"But what it came down to was I wanted to stay close to home where my parents could see me play."

Nevels, a 5-9 guard, also had Binghamton and Wichita State on her list before deciding Murray State is the place for her.

"We shouldn't start talking about us splitting up," she said as she glanced at Taylor.

"Yeah, I'm going to start crying," Taylor said.

Bolingbrook won the state title in 2005 and finished second in 2006 and 2007. They share a common, predictable goal for this season.

"We want to get a state championship before we leave here," Taylor said.

"That's my goal, to win state," Nevels said.

With the returnees on hand and the mainstays from a 22-2 sophomore team joining the varsity ranks, the Bolingbrook boys already were projected to be very good this season as well. But when Taylor transferred in during the summer, the sky may have become the limit.

Taylor, a versatile 6-4 guard, committed at the beginning of his junior season to Wisconsin and honored his commitment to attend the Big Ten school with Wednesday's signing.

"I used to go to Wisconsin's summer camps, from the time I was a kid," he said. "I always wanted to be a Badger."

Based on early returns, life will not be bad as a Raider, either.

"Everyone has accepted him and vice versa," Brost said.

St. Joe's loss is Bolingbrook's gain. The transfer happened after the family moved to Bolingbrook, and Diamond's dad Kimrossi joined Brost's staff as an assistant.

"Given the travel time to Bolingbrook compared to St. Joe's, this just made sense," Kimrossi said. "But it was a difficult decision because Coach (Gene) Pingatore built such a great program at St. Joe's over many years, and I liked Diamond having the opportunity to play for him."

While Taylor's name was out there all along as one of the state's top talents, Snyder burst onto the national scene in the most recent offseason. He has continue to grow -- the wing player now is 6-6 -- and in the summer, she demonstrated improved range on his shot and improved ballhandling ability. That combination helped steer schools such as Northern Iowa, UIC, Evansville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee to his doorstep, in addition to Wisconsin-Green Bay.

"Green Bay (a member of the Horizon League) just seemed to be a good fit," said Snyder, who averaged 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds as a junior. "Their wings are leaving, and they need one bad. Plus, it's a nice, clean environment there, like Bolingbrook."

"Troy showed tremendous improvement over the last six months," Brost said. "He really worked hard on his game, and the colleges noticed how much he had improved.

"The ideal would be to get to the point where we have a couple of these signings every year."

Snyder will be a college teammate of Seneca's all-state guard, Seth Evans.