Next time you are at a Utah women’s basketball game, take note of any 10-year-old girl sitting nearby — you might just be looking at a future women’s basketball player. At least it could have been true 10 years ago when Morgan Warburton came to her first Utah women’s basketball game. At that point, the junior guard had no idea what her future held.

Warburton grew up in Helper, a small town in Central Utah, in a home with athletic talent bursting at the seams. Her parents both played basketball at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, and her three sisters each played at the College of Eastern Utah. Two of those sisters went on to play Division-I basketball. Chelsey Warburton went on to Weber State and Cassie Warburton went to Southern Utah University. Warburton’s brother Cole is a manager for the Utah women’s basketball team.

“I was always outside playing with my siblings. Whether it was basketball or riding my bike, I was always outside,” Warburton said. “My siblings were awesome examples to me. I loved being around them because they were always positive and we were always supporting each other.”

At Carbon High in Price, Utah, Warburton earned all-state and all-region honors in basketball, volleyball and softball.

“I miss playing volleyball. I try to go to all of the games here, but I love playing basketball. It is by far my favorite sport,” she said.

Warburton was recruited by Weber State and BYU for basketball, but ever since she came to a U game as a 10-year-old, she knew she wanted to play here.

“I knew if I came to Utah, I would become who I wanted to be,” Warburton said. “Elaine Elliot is amazing. She is the main reason why I am where I am today.”

Warburton has played in every game since coming to Utah and consistently makes big contributions. Her freshman year started off with a bang, as she started her first three games at the collegiate level in 2006.

“I loved my freshman year because I had no pressure,” Warburton said. “I had solid players to watch and learn from and they helped me transition. We went far that year and I loved it.” The Utes went to the Elite Eight that year before falling to the eventual NCAA champion, Maryland.

Warburton’s sophomore season was different because she had to take on more pressure as a starter, but she handled it well. Warburton started all 33 games and led the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game.

As far as this season goes, Warburton is picking up where she left off. She is second in team scoring, averaging 17.5 points per game, behind Leilani Mitchell who is averaging 17.7 points per game.

“There is nothing this team can’t do,” said Warburton. “Our goal is to go far and get better as a team.”

Coming off a season high of 23 points against San Diego State on Wednesday, Warburton will be looking to duplicate her effort Saturday against BYU.

Warburton hopes, however, that the Utes can beat their southern rival no matter how many points she scores. She said all the players get pumped for the BYU game because they want to be the best team in the state. This year, though, Warburton thinks knocking off ranked powerhouse Wyoming (No. 20 in the AP rankings) would be sweeter.

“I hope we are the team to beat Wyoming, but playing on the road anywhere in this conference is tough,” Warburton said.

Warburton also would like more people to come to the games because of how fun they can be.

“I know we can’t dunk it, or whatever, but you will have fun if you come to our games,” Warburton said. “You can learn a lot from one of our games and we do have amazing fans.”

Originally printed in The Daily Utah Chronicle on Friday, January 18, 2008