And thus USC got a far more well-rounded player than it might have when Marinacci committed to the Trojans during an unofficial visit on Wednesday.

A 6-foot-1 wing out of Foothill High School, Marinacci is No. in the HoopGurlz Super Sixty for 2009. She said she chose USC over Arizona State, UC-Santa Barbara and Cal. Her desire to play closer to her family, plus her instant connection with the USC coaching staff, prompted the choice.

Christina Marinacci improved off the dribble.

Marinacci said she committed now "because there will be a lot less pressure this upcoming summer. I liked the coaches, the academics are great and I knew this is where I wanted to go."

Last summer, Marinacci was the lone rising junior to play on a talented Swish club team full of rising seniors. The stable of upperclassmen included Atonye Nyingifa, the UCLA-bound guard who was ranked among HoopGurlz.com's top 20 prospects in 2008; Princeton-bound Lauren Edwards and post Riley, who is headed to BYU. In coach Russ Davis' seniority-first system, Marinacci was forced to adapt to a supporting role in spite of her eye-popping 26-points-per-game average at Foothill.

"It was kind of a new situation for me," Marinacci said. "I was used to being the one looked upon to score. But I went in, got my rebounds, scored 6-8 points and focused on defense.

"(During the high-school season), I could tell my defense was a lot better. Also my ability to drive to the basket was a lot better because I played against such high competition during the summer."

A smooth, consistent shooter from long range, Marinacci improved considerably off the dribble from the beginning to the end of summer. She averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two assists while leading Foothill to a third straight Sea View League championship. Foothill lost in the CIF Division I-A semifinals to San Clemente, but loses only one senior and Marinacci says her main remaining goal in high school is to win a state title.

In the meantime, Marinacci will be a team captain for the Swish and undoubtedly its first offensive option.

"It's going to be a big test," she said. "I'm really looking forward to it."

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Glenn Nelson is the founder and publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He is a member of the McDonald's All-American Selection Committee and SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association, Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists and U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.