Women's Basketball: Carey Inks Five Recruits
November 13, 2003 12:29 PM | General
November 13, 2003
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women's basketball coach Mike Carey today announced the signing of five recruits for the 2004-05 season.
Giving the coach signatures were Alberta Auguste of Marrero, La.; Chakhia Cole of Marlboro, N.J.; Kristin Heminger of Merritt Island, Fla.; LaQuita Owens of Charlotte, N.C.; and Olayinka Sanni of Chicago Heights, Ill.
Auguste (Ah-gust-Uh), a 5-11 senior from Marrero, La., is ranked the 42nd-best player in the country and eighth-best wing-forward by All-Star Girl's Report, the nation's leading scouting service.
She is also ranked the nation's 44th-best player by the National Roundball Classic.
As a junior at Ehret High School, Auguste averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 assists, 5.0 blocks and 4.0 rebounds per game.
A versatile player who can play the two, three and four positions, she helped the Patriots to a 25-9 record last season and a second-round appearance in the state playoffs. She was named to the Class 5A all-state honorable mention team last year and was named the Parish player of the year. She was also the 2002 all-Parish player of the year, all-district first team and all-district player of they last season.
As a freshman and sophomore, Auguste was a second-team all-state performer in 2001 and 2002.
"Alberta can play a number of positions for us," Carey says. "She's very athletic and versatile. She will make an immediate impact next year as a freshman."
"I love the coaching staff, the players and the conference," Auguste says. "I'm very excited to come to West Virginia."
Cole (first name pronounced Shuh-key-uh), a 5-10 senior from Marlboro, N.J., is ranked the nation's 22nd-best player by All-Game Sports, the 61st-best player in the nation by Blue Star Basketball and the nation's 98th-best recruit by All-Star Girl's Report. All-Star also lists her as the 12th-best wing-forward in the country.
As a junior at Marlboro High School, she averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 4.0 blocks. She helped guide the Mustangs to a 27-3 record and a Group Four regional championship. Marlboro also finished second in the state championship a season ago.
Cole, the MVP of the 2003 New Jersey state tournament is a 2003 adidas Top Camp Upperclass All-Star, a 2001-03 Street & Smith All-America Honorable Mention, a 2003 Associated Press all-state second team performer and a member of the 2003 Gannett all-state second team. She is also a 2002 all-county first team selection, a 2002 all-underclass second team performer, all-Group Four second team in 2002, all-Shore second team in 2002 and a 2002 Gannett all-state third team.
"Chakhia is an extremely hard worker who will be a force for us," Carey says. "I expect her to come in here and see immediate playing time as a freshman next year."
"I fell in love with the school, the coaching staff and the players," Cole says. "It was a perfect fit because everything felt right and I knew the other recruits that were coming to WVU."
Heminger (Hem-in-jur), a 6-0 wing-forward from Merritt Island, Fla., guided Merritt High to a 20-9 record last year and averaged 20.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.7 steals a game.
She is ranked the 21st-best wing-forward and the 142nd-best player in the nation by All-Star Girl's Report.
As a junior she was a third team all-state performer and a first-team all-Space Coast conference selection. She was also her team's most valuable player and a Breakdown Magazine Top 10 state of Florida selection last season. As a sophomore she was named to the Ohio Girls Basketball first team while she lived in Defiance, Ohio.
"Kristen can play the three and four positions for us and she's very fundamentally sound," Carey says. "She can shoot the three but can also post up very well. She's an extremely hard worker who will be a pleasure to coach."
"I chose West Virginia because of its great athletics and its wonderful academics," Heminger says.
Owens (first name pronounced Luh-qweet-uh), a 5-9 shooting guard from Charlotte, N.C., guided Myers Park High School to a 22-5 record last season. She averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks a game for the Mustangs as a junior.
She is rated nation's 79th-best player and 18th-best shooting guard by All-Star Girl's Report. She was a third-team all-Mecklenberg selection by the Charlotte Observer in 2003 as well as an all-region, honorable mention all-state selection last season. She was also named to the 2003 Dell Curry all-tournament team.
Next season she will be playing at Independence High School in Charlotte.
"LaQuita is a very quick athlete whom I expect to contribute immediately as a freshman," Carey says. "She is a strong perimeter player who will make an impact for us."
"I chose WVU because of the environment," Owens says. "The school, the team, the coaches and the future were what I liked."
Sanni (Son-knee), a 6-2 center from Chicago Heights, Ill., is ranked the 26th-best center and 103rd-best player in the nation by All-Star Girl's Report.
Sanni, who goes by the nicknamed of "Yinka," averaged 16.0 points, 18.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks a game at Homewood-Flossmore High last season. She helped the Vikings to a 15-10 record and a state championship regional appearance last year.
She was named a 2003 all-area selection by the Star and Southtown newspapers and was named her team's most valuable player last year. A two year captain, Sanni also took first place in the 2002 Chicago League 3-on-3 tournament and second place in the 5-on-5 tournament. She also guided the Vikings to the 2001 Hillcrest Tournament.
"The atmosphere and the coaching staff were the main reasons I chose to come to West Virginia," Sanni says. "My heart immediately went to West Virginia when I visited."
"Yinka is a big strong post player who is very mobile in the frontcourt," Carey says. "She has great hands and great footwork. She will be a great BIG EAST player."
"Overall, this is by far the strongest recruiting class we've had since I became coach," Carey admits. "The assistant coaches did a fabulous job in getting this group together. This class is athletically gifted and will help us get over the hump in becoming one of the nation's finest teams. I am very eager to be able to coach this group in the years to come."
