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DeGraffenreid commits to play at Carolina
By Carey Phillips
 The most highly recruited female high school athlete ever in Jackson County has made her college decision, and in her mind she’s going to Carolina.
Cetera DeGraffenreid, Smoky Mountain’s all-state junior point guard, has made a verbal commitment to play basketball for North Carolina.
While the commitment is non-binding until the early signing period in November, DeGraffenreid said of her decision, “It’s not going to change.”
She recently informed UNC Coach Sylvia Hatchell of her plans by phone following an unofficial visit to the Chapel Hill campus.
“She said ‘You just made my day,’ ” DeGraffenreid said of her future college coach. “ ‘We’re so excited to have you in the Tar Heel family.’ ”
Under NCAA rules, Hatchell is not allowed to talk to the media about DeGraffenreid until she has signed a National Letter of Intent.
“It’s a good fit for Cetera,” SM Coach Cindi Simmons said. “It’s one of the elite programs in the country. I think she’s made a great decision.”
The Tar Heels were ranked number one nationally much of last season. They reached the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion Maryland.
Carolina is known for its up tempo game, which should be perfect for DeGraffenreid.
“They say they want to be even faster which fits with her game,” Simmons said. “I didn’t think it was possible for them to be any faster.”
During her UNC visit, DeGraffenreid talked with Tar Heel stars Ivory Latta and Camille Little.
“They told me the only visit they made was to Carolina,” she said. “They said it was a great place and there wasn’t any need for them to take any other visits. I felt the same way.”
Latta will graduate the year before DeGraffenreid arrives in Chapel Hill leaving open the possibility she could replace the All-American at point guard.
“That’s a big role to fill,” DeGraffenreid said. “I hope I can do what she’s done or even more.”
The courtship between DeGraffenreid and UNC has been a long one with the Tar Heels her leading college choice from the start. While college coaches may not contact recruits by phone until April 1 of their junior year, they can talk to players when they are on campus and call their high school coaches.
Carolina first contacted Simmons about DeGraffenreid more than three years ago after hearing about the eighth-grader’s 60-point game for Cullowhee Valley against Macon Middle. When DeGraffenreid accompanied the Lady Mustangs to a UNC camp that summer, Hatchell and members of her staff had an opportunity to see the budding superstar in person.
“They liked the way she played,” Simmons said. “They said she was a creator and she was the type player who would fit with their program.”
For her part, DeGraffenreid said she has been a Carolina fan since about the time she was in fifth grade.
“I couldn’t picture myself going to another school,” she said.
It was that feeling that led her to make the commitment now.
“I knew there was no other school I wanted to go to.” DeGraffenreid said. “I didn’t want to talk to coaches and make them think I might go to their school when I knew I wouldn’t.”
The number of schools that has contacted DeGraffenreid by mail are in the hundreds. They include virtually all members of the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences as well as numerous other national powers, such as Connecticut. Schools as far away as UCLA and Southern California have expressed interest.
The phone calls started coming April 1. The first was from the Kentucky coach, who asked to speak to “Ms. DeGraffenreid” prompting Cetera to hand the phone to her mother.
“The calls kept coming, and there were beeps on the line,” she said. “Finally I just stopped answering the phone and went to sleep.”
Among her goals at Carolina are reaching the Final Four and winning a national championship.
But first is her senior season at Smoky Mountain. The Lady Mustangs were 28-1 last year with the lone loss to Salisbury in the Western 2-A Regional finals.
“A state championship is a huge goal this year,” DeGraffenreid said. “Right after the Salisbury game we were depressed, but we knew we had to work harder. We took a week off then got back in the gym and started working.”
DeGraffenreid set a school scoring record for the third straight season with 918 points for a 31.7 average last year. She also led the team with 8.7 rebounds.
With 2,358 career points, she is closing in on the Western North Carolina record of 2,581 held by Rosman’s Ashton Barton. She also has a shot at the state record of 3,225, a mark held by Clinton’s Danyel Parker.
DeGraffenreid is playing this summer for the Tennessee Nike Flight. She has taken part in tournaments in Virginia and Ohio against some of the top competition in the country and was recently named to an all-tournament team.
She will attend the Nike Academy starting June 30 in Portland, Ore, where 22 top players will take part in camps and receive instruction from NBA players.
She is the daughter of Mutt and Pam DeGraffenreid of Cullowhee.
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