As promised, here's the deal with Michala Johnson.

She will have a ceremony at Montini Catholic High in Lombard, Ill. at 9 a.m. on Wednesday so the Huskies will have a mininum of three letters of intent in their hands on the first day of the early signing period since Stefanie Dolson and Lauren Engeln are also expected to sign and fax the letters on Wednesday according to Dolson's high school coach Judy Mottola and Engeln's AAU coach Russ Davis. Samarie Walker will sign her letter on Friday. I'll still awaiting word on when Bria Hartley will sign.

Speaking of Johnson, she will play her first game since tearing her ACL a week from today when Montini opens its season against Marist. Montini coach Jason Nichols said he will ease Johnson back into the fray gradually, playing her about 16-20 minutes a game early on. Nichols has been extremely impressed with what he has seen from his star player in the preseason.

'Michala has looked great," Nichols said in an e-mail to the Register. "Sometimes when you get an ACL tear kids have a tendency to be gun shy when hitting a move, rotating over to help and take charge, rebounding or any aspect of their game. This is simply not the case with Michala. She didn't rush to get back on the floor and worked her tail off during the rehab. She has simply been our best player in practice(which she should be) and is the same Michala that I knew a year ago. She's the first kid down the floor in transition beating every guard down the floor. Her face (up) game has improved mightily. She looks confident. She is very explosive and will
only get better as we get into game action. The biggest difference is the 19
pounds of muscle she added in 10 months to her frame. She has filled out. I
tease her and tell her she used to look like that skinny 6-4 kid over there.
That is her sister who is a freshmen! I love what I see."