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Cal Women's Basketball

Heide Big Component to Cal Hoops' Stellar 2020 Class

April 16, 2020
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Part of Cal's 2020 recruiting class quartet of 6'3+ players, Mt. Si (North Bend, WA) post Sela Heide is the tallest of them all, checking in at 6'7. Overall, the Bears signed four signed 2020 commits in the early signing period and two more yesterday, including Heide and Swedish guard Alma Elsnitz.

All four of the post/forward signees are rated in ESPN Hoopgurlz Top 100 recruits, with Heide checking in at #89 and the #10 post player in the nation.

Heide comes from a tall and athletic family, with both father Jason (6’10) and mother Sissel (6’4) having played basketball at Oregon State.

Heide got on the radar later than the Bears’ other bigs, with Cal getting involved this school year, though one of the staff members got a jump her her recruitment before arriving in Berkeley.

“I’d been talking with Cal for a few months before I committed,” said Heide. “I talked with Coach April (Phillips) a lot. She’d actually recruited me during my freshman and sophomore year and I was terrified at that point to talk to coaches but my AAU coach told me I really needed to take the phone call. I tried to avoid talking tp them any way I could. But Coach April was the first coach I ever talked to and she’s been awesome.”

Heide’s recruiting path was different than most, particularly with missing time due to injury.

“I had an injury back in June so I didn’t get to play my regular AAU season and that made my recruiting process a little different. I had seven knee cap dislocations,” said Heide. “They finally just said you can’t play without getting surgery. The surgery was a success and I’ve been doing well. The doctors expect me to be 100% in the future after going through the healing process and I’ve been cleared and was able to play again at the end of the season.”

Heide was able to make it back on the court January 13 and made an immediate impact, adding 12 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes in Mt. SI’s win. She averaged a double-double with 16.8 points and 11.4 points per game and produced an average of 2.6 blocks on the abbreviated season. As a junior, she averaged 12.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on the season, helping lead her team to regionals.

Heide visited Cal in February and saw all that she needed in the program.

“I really liked the whole staff and their mission and went down there for a visit and committed to them that Saturday night and flew home on Sunday,” said Heide

“I was able to spend time with the team on my visit down and it was great. You’re there and you’re with everyone and it feels like family. That was a big factor for me and they checked off that box for me, for sure.”

Heide played AAU ball with fellow 2020 signee Delayah Daniels on the Tree of Hope squad and will be reunited with her this summer.

“We played together a few months last spring in March, April and May,” noted Heide. “Laylay’s awesome. She’s an awesome teammate and a phenominal basketball player, as Cal fans know. They actually asked her about me when they were scouting her. I’m really excited to be able to play with her.”

Both were coached by AAU coach Mo Hines with Tree of Hope.

“Sela was a pleasure to coach,” said Hines. “She’s a hard worker and is very committed to being an impact player at Cal.”

"Sela brings great size to our roster and has an exceptional touch around the basket," noted Cal head coach Charmin Smith. "Her length will help to alter shots on the defensive end as she anchors the paint."

Now that it’s official, with the National Letter of Intent signed yesterday, Heide’s looking forward to embarking on the next phase of life when travel restrictions are lifted and she can enroll at Cal, hopefully sometime this summer.

“I’m so excited to finally offically be a Bear,” said Heide. “I’m most looking forward to continuing to build relationships with my team and coaches as well as coming down this summer.”

Other stories:

Elsnitz, Heide Join Cal's Highest-Ranked Class Since 2009

Bears Beat Out Tough Pac-12 Comp For Higgins

Discussion from...

Heide Big Component to Cal Hoops' Stellar 2020 Class

10,618 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by puget sound cal fan
wvitbear
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In the film clip she does half in a yellow jersey and half in a blue jersey. To me she looks more athletic in the blue jersey.
Chabbear
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Remember when students played more than one sport? For instance, the quarterback played point guard on the high school team. Well, I wish that she would play middle blocker on our volleyball team and then move to basketball.
annarborbear
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wvitbear said:

In the film clip she does half in a yellow jersey and half in a blue jersey. To me she looks more athletic in the blue jersey.
I agree on the better performance in the dark jersey. If somebody that big can keep their hands up and not bring the ball down before they shoot, they are half-way there to contributing. Definitely a project, but has a nice soft touch.
CalFanatic
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Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
annarborbear
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CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
We also have Samb as a potential 5, who looks good in her videos, but who will also need considerable development and experience to play effectively in the PAC12. Still looks like we should give everyone their chance in practice and on the court this year to develop as much as possible. That will be more important than wins or losses this season.
IssyBear
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CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
This is true as long as we don't devote 80% of our offense trying to throw low percentage passes into her.
SFCALBear72
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IssyBear said:

CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
This is true as long as we don't devote 80% of our offense trying to throw low percentage passes into her.
That's not Coach Smith's coaching style.
IssyBear
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SFCALBear72 said:

IssyBear said:

CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
This is true as long as we don't devote 80% of our offense trying to throw low percentage passes into her.
That's not Coach Smith's coaching style.
I hope, hope, hope that you're right.
SFCALBear72
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IssyBear said:

SFCALBear72 said:

IssyBear said:

CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
This is true as long as we don't devote 80% of our offense trying to throw low percentage passes into her.
That's not Coach Smith's coaching style.
I hope, hope, hope that you're right.
Is that what you saw last season? Nope.
IssyBear
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SFCALBear72 said:

IssyBear said:

SFCALBear72 said:

IssyBear said:

CalFanatic said:

Heide's addition could prove to be the most crucial. This allows DD to fully move to the 3 where she looks to thrive. Just my opinion.
This is true as long as we don't devote 80% of our offense trying to throw low percentage passes into her.
That's not Coach Smith's coaching style.
I hope, hope, hope that you're right.
Is that what you saw last season? Nope.
Yep.
CyBear77
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Gotta like how she keeps the ball high and just goes up for her shot,...a lot of credit does have to go to her guards, who all seem to know to pass the ball up high to her...and then she keeps it high and has a good idea what she's going to do with the ball when she gets it. Has a nice right handed jump hook, too. And jumps for rebounds...
Needs to get stronger and maybe work on quicker footwork but you like what you see on the tape...
puget sound cal fan
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Sela's videos ahow her using low post footwork, but she could certainly benefit from good coaching to improve her skill. She's able to score with either hand near the rim already so improving her footwork will help her to create paths to the hoop.
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