The Wolverines won that first game over Park University by an overwhelming 85-32 margin with names like Elizabeth Gentry, Gracie Johnson and Naia Tanuvasa filling up the stat sheet with notable outings, along with several others.

Gentry, as it turns out, is the younger sister of BYU offensive lineman Andrew Gentry, and you may have heard of Johnson’s brothers, Isaac and Spencer, both of whom played collegiate ball locally with Spencer having starred just up the street for BYU. And anyone who follows BYU football is familiar with the name Tanuvasa with Cougar defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa also playing the role of Naia’s cousin.

And again, it’s intentional, or at least in part.

Recruiting the best available talent, regardless of what local ties may exist, is always the goal for UVU coach Dan Nielson, but given the level of talent pool locally, along with those who have natural ties to the program, it just so happens that the Wolverine roster is chock full of familiar names.

“From the day I got the job, I’ve always said that women’s basketball is different than men’s basketball in that … women’s basketball across the country, even the top teams — the UConn’s, South Carolina — it’s the communities that are really supporting women’s basketball,” Nielson explained. “So I’ve always said if there’s players locally or with ties to the area that the community could get behind, that’s what I want. If they’re good enough for us to win, that’s what I want because I want people to bring their daughters and their junior teams and the high school teams to come and not just support UVU, but they want to come and support great players they saw play at the local level.”

Indeed Nielson’s players aren’t there just because they may have familiar names with that play on the gridiron or men’s basketball court, but because, as it turns out, certain siblings tend to share an elite level of athleticism.

Take Elizabeth Gentry as a primary example.

Much like her older brother Andrew, who started at both BYU and Michigan with his imposing 6-foot-8, 320 pound frame, Elizabeth, who stands in at 6-foot-3, caused many problems for opponents during her years at Creighton before transferring to UVU for her final two seasons. She showcased much of her skill level during UVU’s opening win, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds over just 17 minutes of play.

And then, as mentioned by Nielson, there’s players who may not hold familiar names if not for their own level of dominance showcased at the local prep level. Chief among those type of players are Naia Tanuvasa herself, who starred at Lone Peak High School, along with Cambree Blackham (Skyridge), Olivia Stephens (Alta) and Tabi Clark, who was recently named as the Daily Herald’s Valley MVP due to her standout play for state champion Pleasant Grove last year.

“Bringing back Cambree is huge for us and then Naia –the game has slowed down so much for her, and I think she’s going to be really improved this season. I’m excited for her,” Nielson said. “And we’re so fortunate to have Tabi join our program. She committed to us early although I told her that she was probably going to get a lot more offers from bigger programs. But she understood that and stuck with us because of the relationship we were able to build with both her and her family.”

Naia Tanuvasa and Tabi Clark scored 11 and 10 points, respectively in limited action versus Park while Blackham handed out seven assists.

All three are believed to be key components in what Nielson believes is going to be his most talented team he’s presented on the court during his eight years coaching for the Wolverines.

“We lost a lot of experience off of last year’s team, but I’m hopeful we can make up for it in overall talent and the depth I believe we’ll have,” Nielson concluded. “We brought in four transfers and three freshmen and we think highly of all of them and believe all of them will help us out immediately this season. We’re really excited that each of them decided to join our program and I feel that we’re bigger upfront and yeah, I really do believe this is the most talented group of players I’ve ever had here. We’re going to test ourselves early, and we obviously have a long way to go, but I like what I’ve seen and I love the potential of this team.”