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Stanford University holds the winning ticket in the Joslyn Tinkle sweepstakes.

Tinkle, a 6-foot-3 senior at Missoula Big Sky High School, announced Wednesday that she will attend the Pac-10 school next year on a full-ride basketball scholarship.

“It was an extremely difficult decision for me,” Tinkle said at a press conference in front of 50 or so friends and family members at Big Sky High. “It came down to a top few schools, but really what was important for me was where I could see myself being happy the next four years and be able to have a strong, bright future, and of course an athletic and academic career for myself.”

Tinkle is rated among the top 10 women’s basketball recruits in the nation by various scouting organizations and is arguably the most highly recruited women’s basketball player to ever come out of the state of Montana.

Tinkle helped lead her Big Sky Eagles to the State AA basketball championship last March while averaging a state-best 19.9 points a game. She was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and has been named to the Class AA all-state team for three straight seasons.

Last summer, Tinkle was one of 12 players named to the USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team. The team won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

She is the daughter of University of Montana men’s basketball coach Wayne Tinkle and his wife Lisa, who both played at Montana.

Tinkle took recruiting trips to Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as visiting Stanford last week. The Montana Lady Griz were also a strong contender to land Tinkle.

Saying no to her hometown Lady Griz was one of the toughest aspects of her decision, Tinkle said.

“It was incredibly difficult,” Tinkle said of informing UM coach Robin Selvig of her decision on Tuesday. “I mean I’ve grown up here my whole life, being as Grizzly as you can get. For the past 10-11 years I’ve gone to Lady Griz camps and I’ve grown to be so close to all the coaches, especially Rob. With all the traveling I’ve gotten to experience, it’s made me appreciate Missoula so much more and what a special place it is. So it was extremely difficult for me to tell them. It was great that they understood.

“For me, it’s that I want to venture off and experience new things.”

For more on Tinkle’s decision, read Thursday’s print edition of the Missoulian and continue watching Missoulian.com.

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