Marshall University Athletics
Women's Basketball Signs Five Prospects for 2005-06
11/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball Signs Five Prospects for 2005-06
11/10/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? Marshall University head coach Royce Chadwick has announced that five prospects signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play women?s basketball for the Thundering Herd in 2005-06. Kendra King, Alyssa Hammond, Chantelle Handy, Natiera Hinton and Kari James represent Marshall?s early signing period recruiting class and will serve as the Herd?s inaugural Conference USA class as MU prepares to play its final season in the Mid-American Conference this year.
Kendra King is a 6-foot-0 power forward out of Fairfax, Va., who already brings a distinguished and championship-heavy resume to Marshall as she enters her senior season at Paul VI Catholic High School. King was named the Virginia Independent School (VIS) Division I State Most Valuable Player and the state tournament MVP as a junior in 2004. She led her team to back-to-back state titles as a freshman and sophomore and was selected to the VIS All-State First Team and All-Tournament First Team those years.
Last season she averaged 16.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game en route to being named the No. 110 best power forward by the All Star Girls Report (ASGR), a prominent women?s hoops scouting service.
?Kendra is a winner,? Chadwick said. ?She?s the kind of young lady that you can put on the block and she?ll be Miss Consistent with double digits in points and rebounds every night. She has all the tools to get it done for our program in Conference USA as a power forward.?
King has won three AAU national championships (10-U, 13-U, 15-U) with one national runner up (11-U) and two third place finishes (12-U, 14-U). Her 2004 accolades also include selections to the Washington Post Third Team All-Metro, Reebok All-American and the Nike Select Team. She was also a two-time AAU Boo Williams Invitational MVP.
Alyssa Hammond, an Oak Hill, Ohio, native, is an accomplished guard/forward (No. 48 by ASGR) who has scored nearly 1,200 points in just over two seasons of high school basketball. Last season, Hammond bounced back from a knee injury that sidelined her for most of her sophomore season to be named Ohio?s Division III Player of the Year, Southern Ohio Conference (SOC) Player of the Year and District Player of the Year after averaging 24.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.7 steals per game. Her Oak Hill High School team was ranked No. 3 in Ohio and finished as state runners up after a 25-2 season.
?Alyssa is a tremendous scorer who can put the ball in the basket in a multitude of ways,? Chadwick said. ?She has great character and is a pre-med major. She has the opportunity to be the belle of the ball during her career because she?ll be getting it done on the court, in the classroom and in the community.?
As a freshman, the 6-foot-1 Hammond helped Oak Hill to an undefeated regular season (20-0) while being named All-SOC and All-District.
Durham, England?s Chantelle Handy played her high school basketball in West Virginia at Wheeling?s Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy. The 6-foot-3 forward is ranked 49th by the ASGR after leading her team to a No. 1-ranking in Class A and a school-record 27 wins last season. Because Mount de Chantal is an independent school it is ineligible for team championships or individual honors, but the school does boast four seniors that will play at Division I schools next year. Handy averages 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game on that talented roster.
?She (Handy) is a versatile young lady with great size and an outstanding work ethic,? Chadwick said. ?With her terrific range and inside play, she has the total package and a chance to be a tremendous player.?
Handy also played soccer at Mount de Chantal and carries a 3.7 GPA.
Small forward/guard Natiera Hinton from Clover, S.C., averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals in 2003-04. A Street and Smith?s Honorable Mention All-American and All-Region selection, the 5-foot-10 Hinton is ranked No. 38 by the ASGR at her position at Clover High School.
?Natiera is an outstanding athlete with great quickness, speed and jumping ability,? Chadwick said. ?She has three-point range and the ability to take people off the dribble to the rim.
?She has moves similar to (current MU junior) Sikeetha Shepard-Hall and has the potential to be another solution-type player that Sikeetha is.?
At 6-foot-4, Gallipolis, Ohio, native Kari James is Marshall?s biggest recruit and maybe its most raw. James played only one year of AAU basketball ? with fellow signee Hammond for the West Virginia Thunder ? but has all the tools to be an assertive inside player, according to Chadwick.
?Of all the players we?re signing, Kari has only scratched the surface of her potential,? Marshall?s fourth-year coach said. ?She came to our camp and we got to know what kind of person she is and what kind of work ethic she has. She has all the God-given skills to be a tremendous center. Everyone that knows Kari realizes her best basketball is ahead of her.?
James averaged 11.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shot per game last season. She was named an All-Southeastern Ohio Athletic League and All-District player and carries a 3.7 GPA along with being a National Honor Society student.
With the early signing period now over, the Herd coaching staff will turn its full attention to the season-opening Fifth Third MU Classic at the Cam Henderson Center on Nov. 19-20.
