TEMPE — Averie Lower had a slew of other colleges to explore following her stop in the Valley, but all it took was one practice with Arizona State’s women’s basketball team for Lower to know she had found a new home.

Lower, a 6-foot shooting guard from Clear Creek Amana High School in Tiffin, Iowa, and a top 70 player in the 2026 recruiting class, announced her commitment to play for the Sun Devils and new coach Molly Miller on social media Sept. 1.

After averaging 22.5 points per game on 42% shooting from the 3-point line during her junior season, Lower was ranked No. 68 in the SportsCenter NEXT 100 women’s rankings for the class of 2026, making the sharpshooter the first Sun Devils women’s recruit to be ranked on the illustrious list.

Although Miller had only been recruiting Lower since the end of July, and she had other college visits scheduled following her trip to Tempe, Lower’s decision was a no-brainer after one workout with the Sun Devils, who open the season Nov. 3.

“Coming back home on the plane, I was like, ‘This place is the one,’” Lower said. “The draw for me was definitely coach Miller. Her energy was better than anything I’ve seen, and her practices were really what sold me. … The atmosphere in the gym was great and all the girls were locked-in and wanted to learn and develop, and I think I would thrive in that environment.”

When asked about Lower, an ASU representative wrote in an email that coaches can’t comment on her “until she signs in November, per NCAA rules.”

Lower’s high school team, the Clear Creek Amana Clippers, recently underwent a coaching change, bringing in veteran coach Matt Hoeppner. Hoeppner has several years of experience coaching girls basketball in the Iowa City area and was already well aware of Lower’s stardom before accepting the position.

“I coached five years at a level above (Lower) and three years at a level below her,” Hoeppner said. “We never crossed paths during that time, but I definitely knew her by reputation.”

Upon coaching her for the first time in offseason open-gym workouts, Hoeppner was quickly impressed with the character Lower displayed during practice.

“One of the biggest things I noticed with Averie right away was that she’s a big team player,” Hoeppner said. “When someone hits the floor … she’s always one of the first people over there to help them up. The other thing I noticed from her and the girls around her is that, with the things they haven’t been good at, they’re always like, ‘How can I do that better?’

“That’s probably why she’s become the player she is. … Her work ethic is just phenomenal, and the Sun Devils are getting a great player.”

In addition to her team-first mentality and work ethic, Lower’s top-of-class shooting ability has earned national attention, namely from ESPN’s Shane Laflin, a women’s basketball recruiting analyst.

“(Lower) is arguably the best shooter in the class,” Laflin said. “What makes her stand out is that she knows how to hunt the shot. … In the ASU system, they’re gonna let those open threes fly, and it’s going to be exciting.”

Despite the high praise as a shooter from analysts such as Laflin, Lower views herself as more than a one-trick pony, believing she can bring more than just shooting to an ASU team that last season went 11-22 overall and 3-15 in the Sun Devils’ Big 12 conference debut.

“A lot of people would only recognize me for my shooting,” Lower said. “One thing that I love about coach Miller is that she’s going to try to develop me into way more than just a shooter. She has a vision for me and how I’d fit into the team as a whole.”