Payton Verhulst, a signee with the University of Louisville women’s basketball team, has been named a McDonald’s All-American.
Verhulst, a 6-1 guard from De Soto, Kansas, comes to Louisville ranked No. 12 overall in the 2021 espnW HoopGurlz rankings. She played a key role in helping Bishop Miege High School to an undefeated 2018-19 and the Kansas Class 4A state title.
As a member of the 2019 USA Basketball Women’s U16 National Team, she started in all six games and averaged 14.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game to help the USA to a 6-0 record and gold medal June 16-22 in Puerto Aysen, Chile. She was named MVP of the eight-team tournament and her team was coached by Jeff Walz.
She told Cardinal Authority in November that wanted to play for Walz at UofL. “He builds such great relationships with the recruits and I’ve talked to the players and they are comfortable with him, but none of them say that he is like their best friend or anything. I think that is how a head coach should be. Not too close, but not closed off. He is super real. I just feel really confident and trust him.”
She comes from a basketball family. Her sister Ashton is currently a freshman at Central Florida. Her father David Verhulst performed at Rockhurst University and her mother Robin (Baker) Verhulst played at Duke.
The 44th McDonald’s All American game will not take place due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic after consultation with health and safety experts. Instead, the 48 players (24 boys, 24 girls) will be honored virtually.