ASU women's basketball senior transfer guard, Jade Loville, has returned to her home state of Arizona to play for the Sun Devils after transferring from Boise State University in April 2021.
At Boise State, she set the single-game scoring record in a matchup against the University of Nevada Las Vegas last February with 40 points, finishing second in the Mountain West conference in scoring points.
ASU was the last school Loville heard from before she decided on which school she would transfer to.
"I was narrowing down my decisions and I got on the phone with (head coach Charli Turner Thorne) and we probably had about an hour-long conversation, and I just really loved the culture that she built here and she had ideas of developing my game," Loville said.
Along with the instant connection between Loville and Turner Thorne, Loville's family being local to Phoenix helped influence her decision to become a Sun Devil.
"It comes full circle. I was born in Scottsdale and my dad is here in Phoenix, and he's going to be at every game. It's nice to be able to go home and see them, it gives a greater purpose," Loville said. "I'm doing it for my team and for my family that are right there to support me, it’s great to have them right there with me."
Last season the Sun Devils struggled offensively, using the offseason to bring in players like Loville to help rebuild.
"We just weren't a very good offensive team last year and we are much improved," Turner Throne said.
Loville is one of the four transfers ASU brought in to improve from last year. Loville brings an offensive threat to the court and aims to be "unpredictable".
With Loville's scoring mindset, the team has more in the offense to go against their opponents this season.
"We have a lot more offensive threats so people are going to have to play us and it's going to be really hard to guard us," sophomore guard Jaddan Simmons said. "We have a lot of shooters now, a lot of people who can create and get to the rim."
In 2018, Loville was voted as the conference preseason freshman of the year and played in 31 games that season.
Loville played 25 minutes in the season opener against Northern Colorado on November 9, scoring 18 points to contribute to ASU's win. Despite the team's overtime loss against Minnesota on November 12, Loville played 34 minutes and scored 15 points.
READ MORE: ASU women's basketball defeats Northern Colorado in season opener
Despite Loville's performance, the team's offense is still a work in progress, according to Turner Thorne. But with the support of the team's coaching staff, Loville knows she ultimately made the right decision to come to ASU for her final two seasons of collegiate basketball.
"I could really sense the genuine concern Charli had with the whole team, she really cares, she's really just a great coach and great person off the court and I'm just really blessed to have her believing in me and I think I made the right choice," Loville said.
Reach the reporter at mmthacke@asu.edu and follow @Mthacker_14 on Twitter.
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