Archer Olson is excited to be a Golden Bear

Alaysia Styles and Kianna Smith aren’t the only incoming freshmen to the Cal women’s basketball program. Archer Olson, a wing from Gunn High School in Palo Alto, will also be joining them. After growing up in Stanford territory, Olson is excited to be a Golden Bear and looks forward to the chance to compete in the Pac-12.

Before committing to Cal in October, Olson was also receiving interest from some Ivy League schools. While wanting to go to a school with stellar academics, the price and location of the Ivy League schools worried her. When Cal came knocking, she knew it was the right fit.

“Last October was when I decided to attend Cal,” Olson said. “They’d been contacting me since last summer, but October was when I made the final decision. When I visited, I liked the staff and players. The feel of the program and how they all interacted. Really diverse group of girls in terms of personalities and interests. Just a really great group of girls. I was talking to a lot of Ivy League schools. Since they don’t offer athletic scholarships and are more expensive, Cal was the better fit due to academics, location, and price.”

Since making her decision, Olson has developed a really strong bond with both Styles and Smith. Due to committing so early, they’ve been able to go through a lot of the same things together like scheduling classes and looking for housing.

“We were up there for different visits, we talk about the upcoming season, signing up for classes, we’re talking about getting into housing,” Olson said. “I actually played with Kianna last summer. I’m just excited to play with them this year.”

Olson, who has a strong academic background, doesn’t yet know what she wants to study. She’s thinking of something along the lines of mathematics, but isn’t yet committed to a specific discipline.

“I’m not totally certain at this point,” Olson said of what she plans to study. “I’m thinking of something along the lines of economics, mathematics, and statistics.”

As far as what she wants to bring to the court, Olson really hopes to evolve into someone who can play the point guard position in addition to playing out on the wing.

“I think my main strengths are facilitating the ball along with driving and then shooting,” Olson said. “Being a team player and getting the offense going. I think in high school I had to do all around things. I want to be able to work on ball handling to be able to play the point guard position. I also want to work on my shooting. So, ball handling, shooting, and defense are the main three things right now.”

Growing up so close to Stanford, Olson grew up watching Pac-12 basketball and knows how competitive it is. She’s always strived to play against the very best and has a growth mindset, always believing she can get better.

“I always wanted to play at a school that had players that were better than me,” Olson said. “Everyone on this Cal team I can learn from basketball-wise and in life. So, I always want to get better. I live in Palo Alto, so I’ve being going to Stanford games growing up. The Pac-12 has really really good players. I’m excited to play against their players. To go against those players is really exciting.”

For Archer Olson, Cal really is the perfect place. It has the academics, the location, and also the level of competition that she is looking for. She couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.