College Commitment: Kyle Gruhler (2020 Skyview HS)

Kyle Gruhler is off the board. The long 6-foot-5, 185-pound wing had been considering a number of different options when it came to his college choice and coaches continued to recruit him as he progressed through his senior season. While he enjoyed the process, there was one school that stuck closest to his heart. So on Monday night, Gruhler decided to go ahead and make the call and give Northwest Nazarene his verbal commitment.

"Ever since they offered me they were my number one choice," Gruhler said. "It just felt right from all the aspects and I was ready to make it official. They helped me a lot through the process and made it not stressful."

Other schools had been recruiting Gruhler, including many in the Great Northwest Conference. But the connection he felt with Northwest Nazarene was the greatest and he went into more detail about what the school and program attracted him the most.

"Their culture that they have and that they hold themselves too was a big factor," Gruhler said. "And how much the team and the school interacted as one big family. And when taking a visit there earlier, I loved the campus."

Gruhler knows the step up to high-level Division II basketball is great and notes that he'd most like to improve his strength and shooting range to adjust to the college three-point line. There will be time for that though but right now his focus remains on his senior season and hopefully getting Skyview to the post-season.

"We are in some must-win games down the stretch with the three best teams in our league coming to our place," Gruhler said. "We just need to take it one step at a time and not think too far ahead for ourselves."

Gruhler currently ranks as the #22 ranked player in the PrepHoops Washington Class of 2020 rankings.