Joslyn Tinkle, regarded as one of the greatest and most highly recruited basketball players to ever come out of Montana, is making a splash in national headlines yet again. Tinkle, the agile 6-foot-3 senior for Missoula Big Sky, was named on Wednesday to the 2009 McDonald’s All-America team. She is the first Montana high school player – boy or girl – to be selected for the team.
The selection committee chooses the 24 best boys and 24 best girls in the nation. Then it divides them into teams of 12 to play against each other. The McDonald’s All-America game will be held on April 1 in Miami, with the girls’ game airing on ESPNU at 3:30 p.m MST.
Tinkle is the daughter of Wayne Tinkle, the University of Montana’s men’s basketball coach. After heavy recruiting, Tinkle signed in November with Stanford University, where she will play next year. She was recruited by Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas, among other schools. She is trying to lead Missoula Big Sky to its second straight Class AA championship. So far, the Eagles are 17-0. Tinkle is averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds.