“I am extremely excited to announce my commitment…” is the phrase popping up all over the social media pages of the Benilde-St. Margaret’s junior class. One of those juniors is Olivia Olson who just committed to play D1 basketball at the University of Michigan.

Olson has been a part of the BSM Girls’ basketball team since 8th grade and is a junior captain for this upcoming season. Olson was a member of the 2021 USA Basketball U16 National Team, winning a gold medal at the championship held in Mexico this past August.

Throughout the past year or so, she has been traveling all around the country going on college visits in search for the right school. She has had offers from all over the country: Michigan, Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon, Vanderbilt, and many more. How did Olson make the decision of choosing the University of Michigan?

There are many things to consider when making the choice of what school is the best fit for you as a student and athlete. All the schools Olson was looking at had differed between one another. They were different in size, location, etc. “The coaching staff, location, and the team culture,” Olson said when highlighting the key things she considered when choosing a school.

The University of Michigan checked the boxes for Olson, for what she wanted in a school and a college basketball team. “I narrowed down schools by the academic piece of it and then, visiting and seeing the team culture and how the team gets along,” said Olson.

Julia Evens is another junior at BSM looking to be a college athlete. She is a part of the BSM girls’ lacrosse team and is looking to play lacrosse in college. There is a huge process of things you can do to have the best offers when committing to a college. “Going to college camps and clinics, I think gets you right in front of coaches and it gives you good looks,” Evens said.

The academic rigor of colleges is a huge consideration for these highschool athletes looking to play college. Evens is looking for a school with both a academic motivation and a good lacrosse program. “I am looking at them like both equally. After going to a lacrosse camp, I will check out the school academics after and compare and contrast,” Evens said.