Walk-ons are getting more rare in athletics each year, but the Utes have one in Valerie Nawahine. The point guard is set to earn some important minutes as the team is hit hard by the injury bug for the second straight season.
After a successful high school career at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, Nawahine decided to try out for BYU’s team before making her way to Salt Lake City. She made it, ironically enough, as a walk-on and played in two games for the Cougars.
The following season, Nawahine decided to take a year off from basketball, taking her name off of the BYU roster.
“I just thought it would be better if I did not play,” Nawahine said.
In the meantime, Valerie’s younger sister Malia had transferred to Springville High School in Utah from CCHS and taken the state by storm. Malia was named the 2012-13 Gatorade Utah Girls Basketball Player of the Year as she led Springville to an undefeated season and the 4A State Championship her senior year, all while averaging 18.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
With the Utes recruiting Malia, the Nawahine family reached out to the Utah coaching staff about recruiting Malia’s cousin Wendy Anae, who played for the Utes up until last season. With both Malia and Wendy in the Beehive State, the Utah program caught the eye of Valerie, who was still living a life without basketball.
“Once Wendy and Malia signed, Valerie contacted us, but we couldn’t really have contact with her in any way because we wanted her to maintain her walk-on status,” head coach Anthony Levrets said. “We told her if she came to school at the U, then she’d have a chance to walk on, just like anybody else.”
Valerie Nawahine didn’t have a tryout like at BYU — rather, Levrets told her that if she got everything in order that she’d get a chance to practice with the team every day. The practices were essentially her tryout, and she embraced her roll on the scout team.
“It’s fun because I get to practice my own skills and pretty much do whatever I want,” Nawahine said.
With backup point guard Devri Owens suffering a season-ending knee injury last Wednesday against Utah State and third-string point guard Gabrielle Bowie out indefinitely with a foot injury, it was finally Valerie Nawahine’s time to play the point.
In 12 minutes of play against UNLV on Saturday, Valerie Nawahine scored three points and registered one assist. The only negative to her game were the three turnovers she committed, but she has never played arguably the toughest position in basketball before at any level.
“I’ve never run point guard in my life,” Nawahine said. “I’m not very comfortable with the ball yet, but that’s something I’ve been working on before and after practice.”
Levrets compared the switch to a wide receiver switching to quarterback, but he isn’t too worried about Nawahine adjusting.
“For not ever playing point, she’s done a good job,” Levrets said. “We gotta get comfortable enough to be able to run something with her at [point].”
Now, the 10 healthy players turn their attention to 2-5 Idaho State. While Utah runs a complex offense of its own, the Utes will have to prepare for a team that does a lot of running.
“They’re a much more motion-based team, all their parts are moving all the time,” Levrets said. “We got a couple days to get ready for it.”
Levrets believes that because of the offense he runs at Utah, another motion-based one, that his team will be prepared for Idaho State come Wednesday night.
The Utes will be in the friendly confines of the Huntsman Center where they are 3-0 on the young season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT.
 
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