The University of Washington Women’s Basketball program landed their second verbal commitment from a 2021 recruit, when A.J. Marotte, a 6’1″ combo guard from Austin(Tx.), tweeted her commitment to UW on Tuesday morning, March 31st.
Marotte fits the mold of big guards favored by Washington head coach Jody Wynn and, at first glance, is specifically reminiscent of current Huskies point guard Missy Peterson.
Looking at game film, however, Marotte is a rare combination of shooter and scorer.
A.J. uses her long legs and arms to efficiently shoot from long distance, while maintaining good shooting form and balance.
Interestingly, A.J. shoots an actual jump shot from deep as opposed to a set shot, displaying impressive leg strength and conditioning.
A.J. Marotte demonstrates nice footwork to get into her jumpshot quickly, shooting equally well off-the-catch and off-the-dribble.
Marotte also shows good midrange touch, as well as a natural touch around the rim that includes soft floaters off-the-dribble.
A.J. shows a willingness to attack the lane to create shot opportunities and get offensive rebounds.
Although she has solid ball-handling skills going left or right with 2-4 strong dribbles, Marotte is primarily a dribble-to-drive-&-score type of player.
(From what i have seen, she doesn’t often use her dribble to influence the defense and set-up teammates for opportunities.)
Like most natural scorers, Marotte plays offense at a quick pace with controlled aggression.
Marotte displays excellent spatial awareness when working off-ball and creates passing lanes with her body positioning.
Admittedly, her game feels a little raw but A.J. Marotte’s unique combination of size, motor and talent level is impressive.
Coach Jody Wynn and her staff did a great job of identifying a player with huge upside.
Recently, Marotte played in Spain on the 2019 Adidas Gauntlet U.S. Select team. So despite room for growth, A.J. is already playing at a high level and gaining recognition.
If A.J. continues to improve her ball-handling and further develops her playmaker’s IQ to pair with her shooter/scorer’s mentality, she will be a problem in the PAC-12 for Huskies’ opponents.
After Avery Van Sickle’s commitment last week, Marotte is the second talented guard with deep range headed for the UW in 2021.
The Huskies will be graduating four guards/ballhandlers at the end of the 2020-2021 season — Missy Peterson, Khayla Rooks, Alexis Griggsby and Rita Pleskevich* [UPDATE: Rita Pleskevich has entered the transfer portal and is no longer on the UW roster.]— so the addition of Marotte and Van Sickle fills an important need for Coach Wynn’s program.
So expect it to be raining three-balls inside HecEd, when Jody Wynn restocks her backcourt with shooters in 2021.
GO DAWGS!