But over the years, few freshmen entered his open gym with any prospect of varsity time, much less a seat on the bench.

Long before leading the Titans to their sixth (and second-consecutive) region title, a ninth-grade Maylee Anderson walked into her first high school practice with a surprising skill set and debatable ceiling, standing at 5-foot-7.

“She was a little bit of an unknown,” Hamblin said. “She started showing up to open gyms and stood out immediately.”

Anderson is the 2026 Standard-Examiner All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

After No. 6 Bingham upended No. 2 Syracuse 44-34 in the Class 6A state semifinal game, Anderson and her visibly distraught teammates walked back through the same tunnel they’d eagerly entered at the Jon. M. Huntsman Center for what they thought was their breakthrough.

With 19 wins and a region title in hand, Syracuse arrived at that game amid the deepest run of any Hamblin-led team and, together, felt like they had the makings of the program’s first state title team in 19 years of existence.

“That’s who I felt it for the most, our seniors and our girls that’ve put in so much time and energy,” Hamblin said after the game. “I don’t think that was the ultimate showing of who we are as a team. The emotion gets even more when you get into the locker room. They’ve set a great standard.”

It hurts, but the world moves on whether you choose to or not.

Even after all that, Anderson takes pride in just how far she’s come since her freshman season. She finished with 1,115 career points and scored 17.8 points per game as a senior (sixth in Utah, 322nd nationally).

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

Recalling her first year, Anderson was a far different basketball player.

“I definitely had to learn under pressure,” Anderson said. “When I was a freshman, I didn’t really want the ball or I would just shoot 3s or something, but now I’m better at controlling the ball and being able to make plays.”

At the time, Anderson, coming from North Davis Junior High, said her first impression of Hamblin, as a coach, sold her on Syracuse.

“I instantly knew that he was a good coach and that I’d want to go to Syracuse,” Anderson said.

Anderson, McBride and Zaydie Peterson had all come up through competitive non-UHSAA squads and into Hamblin’s program. They’ve played nearly 100 games at the high school level alone — an output Anderson said isn’t a reality without her father, Matt Anderson.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

“I don’t think I’d be where I’m at without him,” Anderson said. “He’s pushed me, he’s motivated me to get in the gym every day and work on stuff. Without him pushing me, I wouldn’t have done that. When I was younger, we’d bicker back and forth, or after a game if he yelled at me, I’d cry or something, but as I got older, I started to appreciate it more and realize he’s trying to help me.”

In a few months, Anderson will leave Utah for Northwest College, a two-year public school in Powell, Wyoming, roughly 8 hours from home and 4 hours from Yellowstone National Park.

Anderson and fellow senior Rachel McBride, another captain and Syracuse’s center, are signed with Northwest for basketball next season.

It’s a big jump, but one Anderson said she’s anticipated for a while since committing to the Trappers ahead of the regular season. Back home remains her 6-year-old brother, who is just discovering basketball via Junior Jazz.

“That’s what our whole family’s bonded on our whole life,” Anderson said. “Me and my dad could coach him when I’m older or something, and help him just like my dad did with me.”

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.