(April 25,
2002)
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Connecticut Women's
Basketball
Huskies Sign Standout Class For Fall Of
2002
STORRS CT (April 25, 2002) The University of Connecticut women's basketball program announced today that five prospective student-athletes will be enrolling at the University of Connecticut in the fall of 2002. Signed letters of intent were received from Gillian Goring (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West HS), Ann Strother (Littleton, CO/Highlands Ranch HS), Willnett Crockett (Harbor City, CA/Narbonne HS), Barbara Turner (Cleveland, OH/East Tech HS) and Nicole Wolff (Walpole, MA/Walpole HS).
Gillian Goring, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, is a 6-7 center from Waterloo High School in Iowa. A finalist for the 2002 Naismith Female Prep Player of the Year, she was named a Parade, McDonald's, WBCA and USA TODAY All-American. She participated in the McDonald's and WBCA High School All-American games after leading Waterloo West to a 21-3 record and an MVC Championship her senior season. As a junior at Germantown Academy (PA), she was named the USA TODAY Pennsylvania Player of the Year while averaging 16 ppg and 11 rpg. Goring attended the Nike All-America Basketball camps for two years, and played AAU ball with the Philadelphia Belles.
Ann Strother, a 6-2 All-American guard from Littleton, CO, joins UConn from Highlands Ranch High School. Strother transferred from Heritage High School to Highlands Ranch before her junior year, where she was a 2001 Street & Smith First Team All-American as well as the 2001 USA Today and Gatorade State Player of the Year. Blue Star Index and School Sports both ranked Strother as the top recruit in the nation. She was a 2001 Second Team Parade All-American and Third Team USA Today All-American. A two-time Nike All-America Camp participant, as a junior, she was named Colorado 5A Ms. Basketball after averaging 19.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.0 apg and 5.0 spg and helped lead Highlands Ranch to its second consecutive 5A state championship title. Strother was one of only four high school players invited to the 2001 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, and was the only high school player to make the Junior World Championship Team, which won a bronze medal in Brno, Czechoslavakia.
Willnett Crockett, a native of Harbor City, CA, is a 6-2 forward/center from Narbonne High School. The two-time Nike High School All-American, was named to the a Street & Smith High School Third Team All-American as a junior and was a 2001 School Sports Preseason All-America Second Team honoree. She was nationally ranked as high as No. 11 by School Sports and received a No. 13 ranking by the Blue Star Index. Crockett helped lead Narbonne to back-to-back state and national titles in 2000 and 2001.
Barbara Turner, a 6-0 forward/guard from Cleveland, OH, joins the Huskies from East Tech High School. Turner was a 2001 Street & Smith Second Team All-American, a 2001 Preseason Third Team All-American by School Sports and attended the Nike All-America Camp in 2001. In Ohio, she was a consensus First Team All-Stater and was the Metro and Area MVP. She was also named the Associated Press Ohio State Co-Player of the Year. Turner averaged 23.0 ppg, 19.0 rpg, 6.0 apg and 4 spg for East Tech as a junior. She was ranked as high as No. 7 by School Sports and was No. 8 according to the Blue Star Index.
Nicole Wolff is a 5-11 guard from Walpole, MA. She averaged 23.0 ppg, 8 rpg, 7 apg and 6 spg as a junior at Walpole High School. A two-time Nike All-America Camp participant, she was a 2001 USA Today Junior All-American, 2001 Street & Smith First Team All-American and a Third Team Parade All-American. She was a member of the 2001 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying Team. Wolff ranked as high as No. 4 by the Blue Star Index and held a School Sports ranking of No. 6.
"Our coaching staff and players worked really hard to get to know Gillian, Ann, Willnett, Barbara and Nicole and we feel like we're getting not just the five best players in the country, but five of the best people in the country as well," stated head coach Geno Auriemma. "We couldn't be happier or more excited about the future of Connecticut basketball."
[Source: AnnMarie Person, Abby Dennis, UCONN]