Lauren Wasson’s recruitment process hadn’t been the longest, but her cousin, fellow Centralia High School senior Von Wasson, made it all the shorter.
Coming off her senior year, Lauren was just about set on committing to play volleyball at Centralia College, but hadn’t gotten around to making it official.
Then, Von told her he had made his own decision to golf at UC Riverside.
“He told me he would be signing Friday, and I was like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna let my coach know and we’re gonna do it together,’” Lauren said. “Everyone could be here together, it’s been awesome.”
So come Friday afternoon, there were two tables set up on Ron Brown court in front of a crowd of friends, teammates, teachers, and a whole lot of Wassons, so Von and Lauren could sign their NLIs in one ceremony.
Lauren, a 2A EvCo all-league first-teamer, was just named to the Chronicle’s all-area team after posting 208 kills and 192 digs. Around the time the season ended, CC coach Ceanna Larson got in contact, inviting Wasson to attend practice as well as the senior all-star game the Blazers hosted last weekend, and offering her a chance to stay in Lewis County.
“I feel like it’s going to be a good thing for me to stay home and be able to have all my people here be able to watch me continue to play,” she said. “I really like the coaches, and I’m super excited.”
Her cousin, on the other hand, couldn’t get out of the area fast enough, moving to a campus where the temperature isn’t supposed to dip below 70 degrees this week.
“A big thing was warmth,” Von Wasson said. “I want to be able to practice 12 months out of the year, and that’s tough up here in Washington.”
Von’s recruiting journey has been a fair bit longer than his cousin’s, but after going to southern California for a visit and playing a tournament for coach Mary Ritchie, he said he found the spot he wanted to be.
“Ever since I was a sophomore and I started looking at colleges, it’s been a journey,” he said. “To finally be done, it’s a relief, but it’s just the next step in the process. Going to college to make it to the PGA, that’s the next step, and I’m excited to have that step finalized.”
Though there’s still most of winter and all of spring left — including Von getting another crack at a state golf title — the duo’s NLIs are also two of the final steps in a long era of Wassons at CHS, with Von and Lauren the last of a string of cousins that has put a whole host of family members on collegiate fields, courts and courses.
