{"id":792152,"date":"2026-05-12T23:41:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/792152\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T23:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:41:29","slug":"former-stanford-standout-ashten-prechtel-excited-to-play-with-valkyries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/792152\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Stanford standout Ashten Prechtel excited to play with Valkyries"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 Ashten Prechtel<\/a> is back in the Bay.<\/p>\n

The former Stanford standout signed with the Golden State Valkyries<\/a> on a hardship contract<\/a> on Sunday, returning to the region where she spent four seasons helping build one of college basketball\u2019s most celebrated programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prechtel, a 6-foot-5 forward, played in the preseason with the Phoenix Mercury, but was cut earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prechtel provides some much-needed frontcourt depth<\/a> for a Valkyries team currently without guard Tiffany Hayes (finger) and forward Cecilia Zandalasini (concussion protocol) due to injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The deal is expected to be short-term \u2014 hardship contracts typically run only as long as the roster need persists \u2014 but for Bay Area fans who watched her win a national championship with the Cardinal in 2021, it\u2019s a homecoming worth noting.<\/p>\n

\"StanfordStanford forward Ashten Prechtel, left, looks to pass the ball as Colorado guard Aubrey Knight runs into teammate and forward Charlotte Whittaker in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out a couple of days ago and it\u2019s just super exciting,\u201d Prechtel said at the Valkyries\u2019 practice facility in Oakland on Tuesday. \u201cThe environment here is insane and I\u2019m happy to be here. I\u2019m still out here in the Bay Area, but I\u2019m glad to be back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was a glue player for former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, averaging 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds across four seasons with the Cardinal. She shot 32.5% from the 3-point line for her career at Stanford, but is someone that teams had to account for with her ability to get hot for stretches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prechtel had her first practice with the Valkyries on Tuesday, and stayed for a few minutes after practice to learn some of Golden State\u2019s sets. While she might just be an extra body the Valkyries can use, her skillset as an athletic stretch big could help Golden State in its matchup with the uber athletic Chicago Sky on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she can dunk,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cShe was slapping the backboard today and everybody was like \u2018whoa!\u2019 We love that she could shoot threes. She picked things up right away. I think we threw the whole playbook at her today, and she digested it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much like the rest of the roster, Prechtel has been in multiple high-leverage moments throughout her career. When Stanford beat Arizona to win the national championship in 2021, Prechtel played 21 minutes off the bench as a sophomore, scoring seven points and grabbing eight rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StanfordStanford Cardinal’s Ashten Prechtel (11) celebrates with Stanford Cardinal’s Cameron Brink (22) after a play against South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Stanford Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prechtel said the lessons learned from VanDerveer are still relevant as she has navigated her pro career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that we were taught basketball at Stanford really helped prepare me for the professional level,\u201d Prechtel said. \u201cNow, I feel like when I go to a new team, I\u2019m not seeing new actions, new things. It\u2019s stuff I\u2019ve already seen before and can now incorporate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117 on the way?<\/b><\/p>\n

Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117, the Valkyries\u2019 first-round pick from last year, is expected to be en route now that her overseas season has ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Jocyt\u0117 lost in the Spanish league semifinals as her team Uni Girona was taken down by Valencia in a two-game series. The shifty 20-year-old guard has been one of the more highly-touted international players in recent years and is expected to play a big role on the Valkyries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117 looked to have suffered an ankle injury at the end of Sunday\u2019s game, but said in a video<\/a> posted to social media that she is healing well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello Bay Area, I just wanted to let you know I am doing great,\u201d Jocyt\u0117 said in the video. \u201cMy ankle is healing up quickly. I also wanted to say that now my season is over, I will be seeing you all pretty soon. I cannot wait and I am really excited.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase didn\u2019t have an exact timeline for when Jocyt\u0117 will touch down in California, but now with her international commitments complete, it\u2019s safe to say the Lithuanian-born guard will be with the team sometime this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think soon,\u201d Nakase said, when asked if she expects Jocyt\u0117 to report to the team this week. \u201cThat\u2019s what I was told. Obviously, I can\u2019t wait for Just\u0117 to be here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burton elevating game<\/b><\/p>\n

In the year and a half since starting point guard Veronica Burton has been on the Valkyries, the former Northwestern standout has gone from an end-of-the-bench player to one of the most dynamic point guards in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After she dished out 12 assists and recorded no turnovers in Golden State\u2019s win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, Burton recorded her fourth career game with at least 10 assists and no turnovers \u2014 all with the Valkyries \u2014 tying her with Dawn Staley, Courtney Vandersloot and Ticha Penicheiro for second all-time in such games, trailing only Sue Bird\u2019s seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is always to take care of the ball,\u201d Burton said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve always kind of been a point guard that prioritizes assists and play making and getting my teammates involved. It\u2019s also a testament to my teammates. They hit some very tough shots. I\u2019m not in that position without them and them being in the right place at the right time. The micro movements and everything that kind of sets me up for success, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (22) goes up for a basket against the Phoenix Mercury in the first quarter of their WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 Ashten Prechtel is back in the Bay. The former Stanford standout signed with the Golden State…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":792153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[15172,1339,15173,276,15174,15175,2473,1362,4010,1370,1583,67210,15176,15177,1585,24197,15178,15179,2750,15180,15181,15182,15183,15184,15185,15186,62,63443,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-792152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-contra-costa-county","13":"tag-east-bay","14":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","15":"tag-inside-sports","16":"tag-lake-county","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-marin-county","19":"tag-mendocino-county","20":"tag-monterey-county","21":"tag-napa-county","22":"tag-north-bay","23":"tag-oakland","24":"tag-peninsula","25":"tag-san-benito-county","26":"tag-san-francisco","27":"tag-san-francisco-county","28":"tag-san-mateo-county","29":"tag-santa-clara-county","30":"tag-santa-cruz-county","31":"tag-solano-county","32":"tag-sonoma-county","33":"tag-south-bay","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-stanford","36":"tag-united-states","37":"tag-unitedstates","38":"tag-us","39":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}