High school girls basketball: Ridgeline’s Emilee Skinner announces her commitment to Duke

Emilee Skinner, who ESPN ranks as the No. 7 recruit in the 2025 class, announced her commitment to Duke University during a ceremony at Ridgeline High on Friday morning.

The 6-foot point guard had narrowed her choices down to Duke, Iowa, UCLA, Notre Dame and TCU prior to Friday’s announcement, which happened to fall on her mom’s birthday.

Duke finished with a 22-12 record last season, and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

“We are so excited for Emilee. Duke is lucky to have her and we can’t wait to cheer her on. Go Blue Devils,” said Ridgeline coach Ainsli Jenks.

This past March, Skinner was named the Deseret News Ms. Basketball recipient, the 30th in the history of the award. As a junior last season, she led Ridgeline to a 25-2 record and a repeat 4A state championship by averaging 24.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 blocks and 3.5 steals.

She shot 86% from the free-throw line, 43% percent from 3-point range and 59% from the field. She made 20 more 3-pointers her junior year than her sophomore year.

She has started every game since her freshman season and will look to lead Ridgeline to a three-peat this upcoming season.

This past summer, Skinner earned a spot on the United State Under-17 National Team that took home the gold at the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup. She averaged 6.2 points and played 13.2 minutes competing alongside her peers.

Jenks has been Skinner’s coach throughout high school, and she’s regularly praised her for her high character on and off the court.

“She could probably do just about any sport you asked her to do and she’d be incredible at it. She’s just a phenomenal athlete, a phenomenal competitor. She has a natural ability to make things look like it comes easy,” said Jenks. “What I love probably most about Emily is it’s not about her. She doesn’t do this for herself, it’s team. Even when she was younger, she was out there doing the things for her team to be successful.”

In three seasons at Ridgeline, Skinner has scored 1,622 career points. She will inevitably surpass the 2,000-point threshold sometime during her senior season, becoming just the third player in state history to do so — even though Snow Canyon’s Olivia Hamlin is also on pace to shoot past 2,000 points.