Imovbioh ineligible to play for Virginia in 2011-12

We kept getting the sense something was up at Virginia. Now it's official - the school announced Friday that Parade All-American freshman Sarah Imovbioh will not be eligible to play for or practice with the Cavaliers in 2011-12.

Read it and weep: "The ruling is a result of a gap in her high school enrollment while living in Nigeria. NCAA bylaw 14.3.1.2.1 requires prospective student-athletes to complete their core-curriculum requirements within four consecutive years of their initial date of high school enrollment."

The good news is Imovbioh is currently enrolled at Virginia, and if she meets school and NCAA academic requirements through 2011-12, she will be eligible to play four years beginning with 2012-13.

Still, in the short term this is clearly a blow to the Cavaliers, as not only was Imovbioh a promising talent but she was also Virginia's only incoming recruit. And from a state perspective, this means that none of the three most highly-touted recruits supposedly bound for Division I programs will actually play for their intended schools. Kaneisha Atwater, another Parade All-American who had signed with Old Dominion, is pregnant and will remain in Florida. And Achiri Ade, a Top 100 player according to ESPN, was not eligible to enroll at James Madison and will instead attend Midland College in Texas.

Tennessee guard verbally commits to Hampton

A few years ago, James Madison recruited an under-the-radar player from Clarksville, Tenn. Turned out OK - all Dawn Evans did was re-write the school's record book.

Now Hampton has mined that same territory. Blake Jenkines, a 5-10 guard from Clarksville's Kenwood High, has verbally committed to the Lady Pirates for 2012, according to the Leaf-Chronicle.

"(Hampton has) a great team and they're really serious about their basketball," Jenkines, who visited Hampton last weekend, told the newspaper. "That's what struck me about them. I'm really excited about the opportunity to go up there and learn and hopefully compete for playing time."

The Leaf-Chronicle reported that Jenkins had scholarship offers from UAB, Florida A&M and Austin Peay and had piqued the interest of several other schools. She averaged 18 points per game playing in the post for Kenwood last season, but is a natural perimeter player and projects as a big guard in college.

Jenkines is the second known 2012 player to commit to Hampton, joining Stonewall Jackson's Ryan Jordan.
Click here for a rundown of 2012 verbals from across the state.

Millbrook's Courtni Green picks Delaware

Delaware struck again on the 2012 recruiting front over the weekend when Millbrook High senior guard Courtni Green announced she will sign with the Blue Hens.

Virginia Tech appeared to have the inside track on Green, a two-time state player of the year who averaged 25.8 ppg last season and has led Millbrook to back-to-back state titles. She has long cited a desire to play close to home, and she has a tight bond with her brother Erick, who plays men's basketball at Tech.

Courtni Green acknowledged to the Northern Virginia Daily that as recently as last week, she was leaning towards Tech. And during a decision ceremony at her home Saturday, she faked out onlookers by picking up a Hokies hat - only to hand it to her brother before revealing Delaware as her choice.

"I felt like Delaware offered everything I wanted in a school," the 5-8 Green told the newspaper. "I felt like they wanted me."

Green also cited the lure of playing one season with Blue Hens All-American Elena Delle Donne. Delle Donne will be eligible to leave Delaware after the 2012 season, when she will be four years removed from high school. But according to women's basketball guru Mel Greenberg, Delle Donne currently intends to stay at Delaware through the 2012-13 season, when Green will be a freshman.

Unless Green changes her mind - she can't sign a binding commitment until November - this means that all three of the state's Associated Press 2010-11 players of the year will be leaving Virginia for college. Elizabeth Williams, the Group AAA player of the year, is at Duke and Maryah Sydnor, the top player in Group A, is at Appalachian State.

It will also give Delaware the last three Group AA players of the year; Green has won it the last two years and Blue Hens sophomore and former Freedom High star Kelsey Buchanan copped the award for 2008-09.

Click here to see the 2012 verbal commitments from around the state.

VCU recruit Winter: ballin' and bloggin'

South Shore High (N.Y.) senior and VCU verbal commit Jenice Winter says she's considering a future in journalism, which endears her to us before she even sets foot in the Commonwealth. Last month, she displayed her passion for writing by blogging about her experiences on the AAU summer circuit for the Brooklyn Daily.

She also detailed why she's so stoked about playing for VCU next fall:

"I committed because what they were offering me was something I just couldn't pass up, and the chemistry between me and the coaches on the visit just clicked. Another reason for my commitment was that every player that attends VCU, their game has developed from when they first arrived. Also, the facility was amazing. Words can't explain. I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to my years in that VCU uniform."

Hmmm.... Potential player-blogger for LadySwish, perhaps? Hey, Jenice, let's talk.

Tribe talk: William and Mary notes

Brooke Stewart didn't like William and Mary's record. But she did like Williamsburg, head coach Debbie Taylor and the idea of helping the team rebound. So much so that she plans to join the Tribe in the fall of 2012.  The Salem (Mass.) News has full details.

A 6-0 guard/forward from Masconomet Regional School in Boxfield, Mass, Stewart averaged 20.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a junior last season. She chose the Tribe over CAA rival Northeastern, although she admits that William and Mary's 3-26 record last season gave her pause.

"I mean, it really bothered me," Stewart told the newspaper. "It made me nervous and a little shaky. Then I talked to coach Taylor. First, she's a New Yorker, which I like. She told me they had three knee injuries and a concussion on the team last season. They have a great guard coming in next season (Anna Kestler) who will be a sophomore when I get there. Hopefully I can help them out."

Click here for a rundown on 2012 verbal commitments from all the D-I schools in Virginia.

FINALLY KNOCKING 'EM DOWN

In 2008-09, the Tribe ranked last in Division I, 328th out of 328 teams, in free throw shooting. The following year, the Tribe were 330th of 332 D-I teams. So naturally, in 2010-11 we can find the Tribe at...55th overall? A 73-percent free-throwing shooting team, after two straight seasons in the mid-50s? What gives?

The natural tendency is to cite the Tiffany Benson Effect. Benson was a defensive marvel and one of the best players in school history - until she toed a free throw line. The former Princess Anne High star made just 26.1 percent from the stripe (43 of 165) as a junior in 2008-09, then followed that up with a 28-percent effort (35 of 125) as a senior in 2009-10.

Subtracting Benson was just part of the story, though; improvement by virtually everyone else was also key to driving the numbers up. Taysha Pye, the team leader in free throw attempts, connected on 73.9 percent of her shots, up from 66.8 the previous season. Emily Correal, second on the team in attempts, went from 62.3 percent in 09-10 to 71.6 percent in 10-11. Jaclyn McKenna's spike was nearly 14 percentage points to 78.0. Katherine DeHenzel improved from 75 percent to 80.4. Clearly, the whole team took this deficiency seriously. Now, it's a team strength.

By the way, if you're wondering how your favorite team ranked at the line:

55  - William and Mary  - 73.0
76  - Richmond  - 72.1
113 - Longwood - 70.7
132 - James Madison - 70.0
133 - Virginia - 70.0
167 - George Mason - 68.9
167 - Hampton - 68.8
195 - Old Dominion - 67.8
200 - VCU  - 67.6
217 - Radford - 66.8
321 - Norfolk State - 61.0
324 - Liberty  - 60.5
325 - Virginia Tech - 60.1

WELCOME, COACH CRAYTON

Former Davidson star Janell Crayton is the Tribe's new director of basketball operations. According to the school's release, Crayton's duties will include film exchange (they still do that in this technology age?), coordinating team travel, on-campus recruiting, team promotional activities and other administrative functions.

Crayton was a first-team All-Southern Conference performer as a senior at Davidson in 2006 and has been an assistant coach at three different schools, most recently last season at Colgate. 

Parade All-American pregnant, not going to ODU

Kaneisha Atwater

Old Dominion has announced that Parade All-American Kaneisha Atwater will not attend the school and will instead enroll at Indian River State College in her hometown of Florida. According to The Virginian-Pilot, Atwater is staying in Florida because she's pregnant.

NOTE: We don't know this for sure, but one of the reasons Atwater may have wanted her situation clarified is because we initially posted that she was not eligible to attend ODU. Now, we don't have the reach of ESPN (or ESPNU, or ESPNW, or ESPNAnything for that matter), but we do have our share of readers and information like this can spread quickly. So to Kaneisha and everyone else out there, we apologize for mischaracterizing Atwater's status, and we will re-double our efforts to provide the most accurate content possible. Kaneisha, we wish you all the best. And we've resigned ourselves to the fact that there is now zero chance the child will be named LadySwish. And now, back to our regularly scheduled post....

How much Atwater's absence will hurt ODU is unclear, especially in the short term. For while we're sure she's a fine prospect, we couldn't figure out how a player who wasn't all-state in Florida was deemed All-American by Parade. In fact, we worried that the honor was going to subject Atwater to unfair expectations, that because of the Parade honor, Lady Monarchs fans were going to be expecting a game-changer instead of a true freshman that would have likely needed time to figure things out. Unfortunately, we won't have to worry about that now.

The Atwater revelation were part of a big news day for Old Dominion women's hoops. The school also announced that sophomore center Brittany Campbell will sit out the fall semester due to failure to meet NCAA eligibility standards.

Interesting, because a few days ago, Lady Monarchs coach Karen Barefoot sent out the following message on Twitter:

Just got our team's summer grades back! Wow, way to go!! Proud of our team! Great summer! Ready for fall term to begin! 

On Monday, Barefoot told The Virginian-Pilot that Campbell's grades from last spring made her ineligible, and that a strong summer has put her on track to good academic standing in the second semester. Said Barefoot: "I'm proud we've got her to a point where it's possible to get her eligible."

Finally, Barefoot will reveal ODU's non-conference schedule this week via her Twitter account. Nice touch. We knew Barefoot would eventually start making effective use of this tool.

ODU taps Portuguese Connection again with Michelle Brandao

Old Dominion's overseas pipeline appears to be back up and running. Several reports out of Portugal - here, here and here - inform us that guard Michelle Brandao is heading to Norfolk to play for the Lady Monarchs this season. As every Lady Monarchs fan knows, ODU Hall of Famers Ticha Penicheiro and Mery Andrade also came from Portugal. And while it may not be fair to hold Brandao to those standards, headlines like "Michelle Brandao following in the footsteps of Ticha" atop of of these overseas reports suggest that such comparisons are already being made.

UPDATE: Old Dominion put out a press release on Brandao Monday. Said Lady Monarchs coach Karen Barefoot: "Michelle Brandao brings a passion for the game that will be contagious to the entire program. She is a versatile guard that can do it all and fits our uptempo system. We are excited to bring back the Portugal connection to the ODU campus."

From Brandao: "I love the game and to have the opportunity to improve as a player at ODU is simply amazing. Ticha played at ODU and she is the best Portuguese player as far as I'm concerned. She is definitely an inspiration and it's an honor to put on the same uniform as her!"

Brandao, who will turn 21 years old on Jan. 4, was born in New York City, is roughly 5-foot-7 and has been a fixture on Portuguese national teams the past three years. She helped Portugal's U20 team to a fourth-place finish at the 2010 European Division B Championships; Portugal dropped a 59-40 decision in the semifinals to an eventual champion Great Britain team led by current Lady Monarchs Mairi Buchan and Becca Allison.

In July, Brandao averaged 13.9 points as Portugal finished second to Sweden in the European B Championships.

Brandao will be joining an ODU team well-stocked with guard prospects both now and in the future. The Lady Monarchs incoming freshman class includes 5-3 Ashley Betz-White and 5-8 Myeisha Hall. And ODU's two known verbal commitments for 2012 are 5-9 LaQuanda Younger from Warwick and 5-4 Galaisha Goodhope of Princess Anne.

Touted recruit Achiri Ade will not attend JMU

Achiri Ade

James Madison will be without a key member of its talented recruiting class as ESPN Top 100 performer Achiri Ade has been declared ineligible.

"Achiri Ade is currently a non-qualifier," a school spokesperson said. "Due to (Colonial Athletic Association) rules, she is unable to attend JMU this year."

Per the CAA Constitution, the conference's non-qualifier rule as it pertains to recruits directly from high school reads as follows:

Since the median of each institution's freshman class academic profile far exceeds the NCAA minimum standards for freshman eligibility, if a recruited non-qualifier enrolls at a member institution directly from high school, the individual will not be eligible to represent the institution in a CAA sport.


Ade's AAU coach, Robert Hildreth of the Maryland Lady Terps, told Matthew Stoss of the Daily News-Record that Ade will enroll at Midland College, a junior college, and still plans to attend JMU in two years.

Ade, a 6-1 forward from Seton Keough School in Baltimore, was ranked No. 92 among all 2011 recruits by ESPN and was the only Top 100 player to sign with any CAA school. She was also the centerpiece of a five-player recruiting class ranked 39th nationally by ESPN, higher than any school in the conference or the state.

The Dukes still boast an impressive cast of newcomers as 6-2 guard Jazmon Gwalthmey, 6-0 forward Toia Giggetts, 6-2 foward/center Briana Jones and 6-3 forward/center Crystal Ross all have stellar high school credentials. JMU will also have the services of Tanica Anderson, a 5-5 point guard from Midland College in Texas.

As for Ade, many college stars have had to overcome initial academic concerns before finding success on the court. We certainly hope her career follows that path.

Woodside's Alecia Bell chooses Delaware

Big Delaware news day here at Ladyswish Central. First Blue Hens star Elena Delle Donne makes the U.S. team for the World University Games. Now comes word - via Twitter - that Woodside rising senior Alecia Bell has verbally committed to Delaware. The Daily Press followed with full details.

Score this one as a big CAA victory for the Blue Hens. A few weeks ago, the 6-0 Bell, who averaged 15.2 points per game for the Wolverines last year, told the Daily Press she was seriously considering offers from William and Mary and VCU in addition to Delaware. In addition, George Mason had also been in the picture. And check out this quote from this Daily Press story in March:

And after Bell's 19-point performance (on 8-of-14 shooting) Saturday against Western Branch, (Woodside coach Mike) Tallon said Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry approached him and asked, "What do I have to do to get her?"

Virginia gets verbal from elite point guard

Virginia's Joanne Boyle Era is off to a rousing start on the recruiting front. ESPN reports that 5-9 point guard Faith Randolph from Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.), the No. 27 player in ESPN's Top 100 for the Class of 2012, has verbally committed to the Cavaliers.

Randolph joins 5-8 guard Raeshaun Gaffney of Fairfield Senior (Ohio) in Virginia's 2012 class so far. Gaffney committed to the Debbie Ryan-led Cavaliers, then re-affirmed her commitment after meeting with the new staff.

Here's how ESPN's Glenn Nelson evaluated Randolph in April after the Blue Chip Center Court Challenge at VCU: "It's difficult not to fall in love with Randolph as both a player and prospect. She is a lightning-fast, shifty point guard who appears somewhat more diminutive than her listed 5-9, but is cut and powerful, able to take and dish a lick. Off the dribble, she doesn't just rely on mesmerizing defenders with a rapid succession of dribble moves -- hers are quick and to the point -- but is among the best in her class at incorporating head and shoulder feints. If her defender retreats, Randolph will just keep claiming space until she gets to the rim; she is also just as likely to leave that defender in her dust. Her jump shot gets truer as the stakes grow. Her most likeable trait is her competitiveness, her willingness and ability to put her team on her back, generate shots with her defense and make or create them." 


Check out our 2012 verbal commitments page for pledges from all the state's Division I colleges.

JMU, Radford pick up 2012 verbal commitments

Thanks to the magic of  Twitter - thanks, @MatthewStoss and @NorfolkXpress14 - we learned of two 2012 verbal commitments over the weekend. Robert E. Lee's highly touted point guard Angela Mickens has decided to attend James Madison and Princess Anne High point guard Aisha Foy has agreed to join Radford.

Mickens, who is ranked No. 68 among 2012 players by ESPN, will represent the second player in as many years from the Worldwide Leader's Top 100 to choose JMU. Seton Keough forward Achiri Ade, who will be a Dukes freshman this fall, is No. 82 in ESPN's Class of 2011.

Mickens' decision was hardly a stretch given that, as the Staunton News-Leader points out, her brother Terrell and three cousins will also be playing sports at JMU. Still, Mickens clearly had options, so credit the JMU staff for not taking anything for granted and closing the deal.

"JMU has always made me feel welcome since my freshman year," Mickens said. "The academics are good, which is always the most important thing, and I love Coach (Kenny) Brooks, the coaching staff and the girls. I just love the program."

The early commitment also puts another JMU recruiter in the field - Mickens herself. Top players tend to want to play with each other - call it the AAU culture -  and if JMU is good enough for Mickens, other elite players might find the program worth checking out, too.

Foy led Wilson in scoring (12.5 ppg) as a sophomore before transferring to perennial power Princess Anne. A preseason injury limited her playing time, but she still played a role in the Cavaliers' 31-1 season and Group AAA state title run.

This marks the second straight year Radford has gotten a guard from the reigning Group AAA state champions. Breshara Gordon signed with Radford after helping Lake Taylor claim the 2010 Group AAA crown.

Check out our 2012 verbal commitments page for pledges from all the state's Division I colleges.

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....

VCU picks up 2012 verbal commitment

The trickle of 2012 commitments continues last weekend when Jenice Winter, a 5-10 forward from South Shore High in New York, pledged verbal allegiance to VCU.  The Rams no doubt like Winter because she's an athletic workaholic who has gotten significantly better every year. We like Winter because she loves journalism and dreams of being a sportswriter. Note to Jenice - Unfortunately, there are only about 12 sportswriting jobs left in America. So by all means follow your dreams, but you may want to consider a minor in something like healthcare systems or computer programming, just in case.

Now we're not going to pretend to be recruiting analysts and break down Winters' game - heck, we've never even seen her play. But one way we gauge the quality of a recruit is to look at who else wanted her. According to the New York Post, Winter also had offers from Seton Hall (sorry, Anne Donovan), Delaware (oops, Tina Martin), Wagner and Manhattan. Fairly decent company, we'd say. Any recruiting win over a Big East school has to qualify as a good catch.

Then again, high school resumes are nice but the most important factor in whether Winter will be an collegiate impact player will be how well she develops once she arrives in Richmond. VCU coach Beth Cunningham has an excellent track record in this regard, so while it appears as though the Rams made a good decision, we think Winter did, too.

Radford beefs up post with late addition

Had enough Radford news lately? We haven't, either. So here's the latest from the Highlander Hotline - the addition of 6-2 forward La-She' Walker from Greenbrier East High in West Virginia for the 2011-12 season.

Now we're not sure how Walker, or any incoming freshman for that matter, will fare at the Division I level. But we are sure of this much - this kid is a fast healer. Last July, Walker had ACL surgery. By December, she was back on the court. And in March, she was helping her team to West Virginia's Class AAA state tournament where she had 16 points and 9 rebounds in the state quarterfinals.

“Shay was cleared to play in December, and she wasn’t as good,” Greenbrier East coach Jim Justice said of Walker, who despite the injury was still an honorable mention all-state pick. “But she’s steadily gotten better every game. I promise you some college will be mighty glad to have her.”

The Highlanders will gladly take any help Walker can provide, particularly on the glass. Radford ranked eighth in the nine-team Big South in rebound margin, and the Highlanders' leading returning rebounder (Victoria Hamilton) averaged just 3.7 boards per game.

Walker completes a six-player incoming class for the Highlanders. Other Radford newcomers are junior college forward Tiana Cannon and soon-to-be freshmen Aisha Holmes, Jordynn Gaymon, Kiera McIvor and Ayana Avery. Radford also signed forward Dominique Powell in the early signing period, but Powell is not listed on the Highlanders' 2011-12 roster.

Merritt Hempe no longer Virginia-bound?

Stafford star Merritt Hempe, a class of 2012 forward who verbally committed to Virginia last fall, is telling her followers on Twitter that she is now headed to Georgia. As sources go, tweets hardly classify as take-it-to-the-bank solid. Still, we can't say we'd be stunned by such a development. We'd been hearing that Hempe's Virginia commitment was no longer firm so we suspect Cavs coach Joanne Boyle and her staff have known this score for quite a while, too. Last September, Hempe's father, Dave, cited the different personalities of Virginia's coaching staff and Debbie Ryan's "no-nonsense approach" as key factors in his daughter's decision to opt for the Cavaliers. Obviously, those factors are no longer in play. And Georgia was one of Hempe's original finalists.

UPDATE (June 29) - Hempe confirmed her verbal commitment with Georgia to ESPN.

"Originally I had committed to coach (Debbie) Ryan and her staff," Hempe said, "when she left I had opened it back up. Coach (Andy) Landers and UGA were in the mix the first time around. I was really excited to hear his plans for me in the future of Georgia basketball."

Hempe becomes the second Virginia recruit to change her mind after the coaching change along with Bria Smith, who actually signed a letter-of-intent with the Cavaliers but was granted a release after Ryan stepped down and has since signed with Louisville.

Virginia's other 2012 recruit under Ryan, guard Raeshaun Gaffney, has apparently re-affirmed her commitment to the Cavaliers after visiting with the new staff.

Losing players in this fashion is one of the potential costs when new staffs come in, but in our view this doesn't really reflect on Boyle and Co.'s recruiting abilities. We're going to evaluate the new staff not by how many of Ryan's recruits she can maintain but on the quality of recruits they lock up themselves. And more importantly, how well these recruits develop once they get there.
Besides, this second-thoughts-after-a-coaching-change business can cut both ways. Green Hope star Kristen Gaffney, who had pledged to Virginia Tech before Beth Dunkenberger stepped down, is now considering Virginia along with six other schools (none of which are Virginia Tech). Gaffney's other choices are Notre Dame, Miami, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Central Florida and Old Dominion.

Old Dominion? Guess Karen Barefoot wasn't kidding when she said she was going to aim high.