POCATELLO — A phone call from out of the blue — and a serendipitous birthday — led Lexi Bull to the University of Wyoming.
The Century basketball star first got on Wyoming’s radar at a spring tournament in Phoenix.
“They called me a couple weeks later and go, ‘We’re really interested in you. We love you.’ I didn’t even know who Wyoming was,” Bull said. “Never seen a game, never really heard of them, never looked at them too much. So, it was kind of a surprise phone call, because I’d been talking to a lot of different schools.”
As it happened, Bull and her family were taking a road trip to Denver the next weekend to celebrate her father, Rich’s, 50th birthday — an itinerary that would take them right through Laramie, where the University of Wyoming is located.
Wyoming offered Bull on that trip and, after falling in love with the school, she committed to the Cowgirls at the end of the summer.
Bull officially signed with Wyoming on Nov. 13 — National Signing Day — with a ceremony at Century High School.
“It’s a place that I see myself. I’m so excited, I’m so passionate about it,” Bull said. “I love the atmosphere, I love the feeling that I get when I’m there. It just feels like home.”
Bull also had offers from Montana State and Navy, and interest from Montana, Saint Mary’s and Nevada-Reno, among others — “there were a lot,” she said.
She was a key piece last year for a 27-0, state champion Century team, averaging 11.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. With all-state Player of the Year teammate Chinma Njoku at Boise State this year, Bull will have to step up even more if Century wants to defend that title.
“We have a huge target on our backs, being 27-0 last season and state champs,” Bull said. “It’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to work hard. We’re going to have to, every day, get better, every day, work hard in practice.”
Bull, at 6-feet and a good defender and rebounder, projects as a wing for Wyoming.
The signing was the end of a long journey for the multisport athlete — Bull is also the setter for Century’s volleyball team.
“I’ve done soccer, I’ve done tennis, I did golf, I played basketball, I was a gymnast,” Bull said. “My eighth-grade year, I was playing soccer, volleyball and basketball, all at the same time. And that was a little much, so I kind of had to come to the realization I can’t do everything.”
Her love of the game pushed her to focus mainly on basketball in high school, and realize that hoops was the sport she really wanted to pursue at the next level.
Thus began four years of hard work.
“Every year, it’s just been going to work,” Bull said. “Every spring time, learning new things, getting stronger. Waking up at 6 a.m. every morning with my dad, working out, and then lifting after school. It’s been a long process, and it hasn’t been easy, but it’s so exciting now that it’s finally there.”