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Women’s basketball coach Lisa Stone announced her first
Badger recruiting class Wednesday afternoon, with five prep seniors committing
on early signing day.
Stone and her staff landed South Shore High School (Port
Wing, Wis.) 5-8 guard Jolene Anderson, Milwaukee Rufus King 6-4 center/forward
Danielle Ward, 5-11 guard/forward Shari’ Welton from Calumet, Ill. (Thornwood
High School), 6-3 center/forward Lesha Jones from Detroit’s Martin Luther King
High School and Evanston Ill. native Akiya Alexander, a 5-9 guard who attends
The Patterson School in Patterson, N.C.
“We feel very good about this class,” Stone said. “They are
very athletic. They are great, great people, come from great families. They fit
in tremendously with our current team. All of our Wisconsin Badger
women’s basketball team, sold these players on this institution and all it had
to offer.”
Wisconsin potentially landed one player at each position on
the court. Jones, rated No. 73 by the All-State Girls Report is expected
to play center at Wisconsin. Jones is currently averaging 22 points, 12 rebounds
and four blocks per game. Her prep team begins state tournament play next week
and currently holds a 17-0 record.
Ward, No. 135 according to ASGR, averaged 15 points, 10
rebounds and four steals per game as a junior and will likely play the four
position in college. Both she and Jones are left-handed.
Anderson has 1,928 career points and is on track to become
the all-time leading scorer in Wisconsin prep history. She will likely play the
“two” at Wisconsin.
Another versatile guard, Alexander could play the point for
the Badgers. Alexander, ranked No. 84 by ASGR, is playing at Patterson, a prep
school, after attending Evanston Township High School.
Welton could eventually play across the perimeter, but
Stone said she will likely become a small forward at Wisconsin. Welton averaged
18 points and 10 rebounds per game.
“We have, basically, a player at each position that is
going to combine with a current women’s basketball team that is committed to
taking this program to the next level,” Stone said. “We have addressed our needs
from an athletic standpoint. We are excited about these kids. They fit in great
with our staff, but more importantly with our players.”
Wisconsin’s new recruits do not exactly need introductions
to each other.
“Four of these players: Lesha Jones, Danielle Ward, Akiya
Alexander and Shari’ Welton all played on the Chicago Hoops Express (an AAU
team),” Stone said. “So they know each other, they are familiar with each other
and, of course, we visited this already, Jolene will fit in tremendously with
them as well.”
Wisconsin's recruiting class may not be complete. The
Badgers, who have three seniors on their roster, have two more available
scholarships. Due to her medical redshirt, Shawna Nicols' scholarship does not
count against Wisconsin's total.
Wrestling adds seven on early signing day
Wisconsin wrestling coach Barry Davis announced Wednesday
that seven recruits have signed national letters of intent and will join the
Badgers’ 2004-05 wrestling roster.
Wisconsin natives Josh and Jordan Crass (Medford, Wis.),
Craig Henning (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and Dallas Herbst (Winneconne, Wis.) will
join William Seth Garvin (Homewood, Ala.), Zachary Tanelli (Short Hills, N.J.)
and Kyle Massey (Champlin, Minn.) as members of UW’s newest class.
“I’m very excited about this incoming class,” Davis said
in a press release. “They will bring a lot of intensity into the room. For our
program to really continue to grow, we need that type of increased competition
on the wrestling team. Very seldom do you get a class like this with wrestlers
at all different weights and our staff is looking forward to them joining our
team next year.”
InterMat, a wrestling news and ranking service, lauded
Wisconsin's early signings.
“In the early signing period, the Wisconsin class is going
to be one of the top classes, if not the top class in the nation,” InterMat
founder and owner Tom Owens said in a press release.