ODU gets verbal from 1st team all-state guard

UPDATE (July 28) - ESPN raves about new ODU recruit at AAU Nike Nationals

For weeks now, we've been hearing a lot about the recruiting prowess of new Old Dominion coach Karen Barefoot. But it's one thing to hear it from a 49-year-old man like ODU athletics director Wood Selig. It's quite another to hear it from a teenage young lady with game.

Now we've heard it from both. On Friday, the Daily Press reported that Warwick High hotshot LaQuanda Younger has verbally committed to the Lady Monarchs for the 2012-13 season, in large part because of the full-court recruiting press Barefoot applied before the new coach had even settled into her office.

"She actually called me the first day she was here, even before she had her press conference," Younger said. "That was really special. It made me feel really good, like she really wants me. One thing I really like about her is she gets right to the point. She said she wants me to be her scorer. I first met her at a camp at Elon my 9th grade year. I remember she told me then, 'I want you.' She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it."

A Group AAA first-team All-State pick (AP), Younger led the Peninsula District in scoring (20.2), lit up Heritage for 45 points and dropped 40 on Hampton in the district tournament semifinals. She will enter her senior season at Warwick with 1,440 career points.

Younger is the first recruit to publicly declare intentions to join the Lady Monarchs. Can't wait to see who Barefoot reels in next....