On August 20th, when fall semester classes get underway at the University of Tennessee, Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summitt will welcome six former high school standouts to the Knoxville campus that will comprise the Lady Vol basketball class of 2012. Joining the back-to-back NCAA Champion Lady Vols will be Briana Bass (5-2, PG, North Central H.S., Indianapolis, Ind.), Alyssia Brewer (6-3, F, Sapulpa H.S., Sapulpa, Okla.), Amber Gray (6-1, F, Lakotah West H.S., West Chester, Ohio), Glory Johnson (6-3, F/C, The Webb School, Knoxville, Tenn.), Alicia Manning (6-1, G/F, Etowah H.S., Woodstock, Ga.) and Shekinna Stricklen (6-2, G/F, Morrilton H.S., Morrilton, Ark.).
“It’s hard to believe that classes start in two months,” said Summitt. “We are very excited to have signed this outstanding class of student-athletes with the University of Tennessee. Individually and collectively, they are regarded as some of the top prospects in the nation. All six players are expected to be an excellent fit and will certainly complement the returning players on our roster.”
“Our coaching staff and team are thrilled that these outstanding young women will be wearing Tennessee Orange and White in the coming season,” said Summitt. “We lost an experienced starting five in our senior class in 2008 but I’m looking forward to the competition from the six newcomers and our six returnees to see who fills those spots in the coming season.”
Forward Alex Fuller is the lone senior returning for the 2008-09 season. She will be joined by redshirt sophomore point guard Cait McMahan who will be back in the line-up after sitting out last season following knee surgery. Joining McMahan in the sophomore class will be Vicki Baugh, Angie Bjorklund and Sydney Smallbone. Redshirt freshman center Kelley Cain, who missed her rookie year following knee surgery, will finally see action in the coming season.
The “super six” are headed in a couple of different directions this summer. Glory Johnson is already enrolled at UT and taking classes in the first session of summer school. She will be joined by Briana Bass, Amber Gray and Alicia Manning for the second session of summer school in July. Alyssia Brewer and Shekinna Stricklen were named to the USA Women's U18 National Team will train at the USOTC in Colorado Springs from July 10-16 and in Washington, D.C., July 17-20, before departing for the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. The 2008 FIBA Americas zone qualifier will be contested July 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the top four finishing teams earning a berth to the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship.
The 2008-09 Lady Vol basketball team will open the season with a pair of exhibition games on Nov. 6 and Nov. 9.
MEET THE ROOKIES
Briana Bass will be the fifth player from the state of Indiana to play basketball at the University of the Tennessee since the 1999-2000 season. The 5-2 guard ties former Lady Vol Shannon Bobbitt as the shortest scholarship players in the history of the program. As a high school freshman, she was the starting point guard on a repeat state champion team that had only one returning starter. During her sophomore season, she got the team off to an 8-1 start before being sidelined with an injury for most of the season. As a junior, she led the team in scoring, assists and steals and was named to the 2007 Indiana Junior All-Star team. A 2008 Miss Basketball Candidate, Bass was an All-State selection by the Hoosier Basketball Magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2008. She was also named all-county, all-metro and all-conference in 2005; all-state, all-county and all-conference in 2006; all-state, all-county, all-conference and all-metro in 2007 and to the 2008 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association All-State Squad. The men’s basketball coach at North Central High School says that “If Bass was not so valuable to the girls’ program, she could, and would be, an impact player in our program.”
At 6-3, Alyssia Brewer is the tallest member of the incoming Lady Vol recruiting class. She earned four varsity letters in basketball at Sapulpa High School and totaled 1,772 points, 1,067 rebounds, 382 assists, 300 steals and 458 blocks in her high school career. A member of the 2008 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America Team, she was also selected for the 2008 USA Today All-USA Third Team, helped the West Team win in the 2008 McDonald’s All-America game, named to the 2008 Slam Magazine All-America Third Team, the 2008 EA Sports All-America First Team (2007 Second Team pick), the Parade Magazine All-America Second Team in 2008 (Fourth Team in 2007) and was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year (2008). The Sapulpa, Ok., native led her 2007 team to a 27-1 record and the class 6A state championship. She was named the tournament MVP and garnered Player of the Year honors from many publications. She was a fourth-team Parade Magazine All-American and was a finalist for the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year in 2007. She averaged 17.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per contest during her junior season. Also in 2007, she was named to the Oklahoma’s Best All-Tournament Team and Ray Reins Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the Class 6A’s Most Outstanding Player, Tulsa World News 6A State Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the metro player of the year and an all-state first team selection. The Daily Oklahoman News’ deemed her its Most Outstanding Player in 2006. The two-time Frontier Conference Player of the Year led her squad to the class 6A Regional Championship all four years of high school and an overall record of 127-12. She has participated on the Nike Team, California Storm Black for the past two summers and was the Junior Olympics National Tournament Most Outstanding Player in the summer of 2005. In 2007, she was selected to participate in the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival and later was named one of the top-12 players at the event. Most recently, she earned a spot on the 2008 USA Women’s U18 National Team.
Amber Gray hails from Hamilton, Ohio, where she earned four varsity letters in basketball and spent three years as the captain of her squad. In her years at Lakota High, she accumulated 1,931 points, 925 rebounds, 230 assists, 197 steals and 130 blocked shots. Her 2008 All-America accolades include USA Today (third team), McDonald’s, Parade Magazine, EA Sports and Slam Magazine (third team). She celebrated victory with the Red Team in the 2008 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game and was named the All-Southwest Ohio Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. Gray earned Cincinnati Enquirer Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007 and was a member of the all-city first team in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She was named first team all-league and league player of the year every season since 2004. As a first-team all-state selection in 2007, Gray led her squad to a 23-3 record and the league and district championships. She was selected to play in the 2007 Olympic Festival and participates with the AAU squad, Cincinnati Finest. She also enjoys volleyball, a sport in which she lettered three years and helped claim the league and district titles in 2005 with a 20-6 overall record. The 6-1 multi-sport athlete garnered first-team all-league and honorable mention all-state volleyball honors in 2006.
Glory Johnson, the 2007 Tennessee Miss Basketball for Division II, has received many All-America awards and honors, including selection as a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-American (2008), a McDonald’s All-American (2008), twice a Parade Magazine All-American (2007, 2008), and a Street & Smith All-American honorable mention (2005). The two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year (2007, 2008) led Webb School to the 2007 State Division II Championship, earning MVP honors along the way. She was named the Knoxville Interscholastic League Player of the Year (2006), to the Tennessee State Writers’ Association Division II All-State Team (2005), all-area third team and all-league first team (2005), all-state tournament team (2005) and state tournament regional MVP (2005, 2006). Her AAU squad – Tennessee Team Pride – finished fourth in the nation in 2006 and second in 2007. Talented in multiple sports, the 6’2” stand-out was State II Champion in the Long Jump and 200-meter dash. She earned four varsity letters in both basketball and track and field and one varsity letter in field hockey in her high school career.
Alicia Manning joins the Lady Vol basketball team as the reigning MVP of her high school team that was tabbed as the Atlanta Tip-Off Club Metro Atlanta Girls High School Team of the Year. Entering her senior season, the Woodstock, Ga., native was ranked first by the Atlanta Journal Constitution out of the top-10 seniors in Georgia. She earned four varsity letters in basketball and spent two seasons as captain of her squad at Etowah High School, where she amassed 1,423 points, 1,129 rebounds, 361 assists and 317 steals. She set several records at her high school, including most rebounds for a season (368), most steals in a season (108) and most steals in a game (11). The 2008 Gatorade State Player of the Year earned McDonald’s All-America, Parade Magazine All-America (second team) and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention during her senior campaign. During her junior season, Manning averaged 15.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest. In 2007, she was the recipient of the Bobbie Bailey Award for Athletic Excellence for Girls and Women in Sports, named the Athlete of the Year for Cherokee County, and the Cherokee Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution and Cherokee Ledger News Player of the Year. As a sophomore, she was awarded the Chairman of the Boards rebounding award, named First Team All-County by the Cherokee Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution and Cherokee Ledger News. She garnered honorable mention by all three publications as a freshman. Her team made it to the Elite Eight of the 4A State Championship in 2006 and won the 4A State Championship in 2005 as she finished her high school career with a 70-20 record.
Shekinna Stricklen was named all-state and all-conference all four years at Morrilton High, where she earned four varsity letters and spent three seasons as co-captain and one season as captain of her squad. She started in all 120 games and totaled 2,690 points, 1,400 rebounds, 726 assists, 474 steals and 605 blocked shots. She had 45 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the 2008 state finals her senior year. The two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year (2007, 2008) was named a McDonald’s All-American (2008), Parade Magazine All-American (second team 2008, third team 2007), a USA Today All-USA First Team member (2008), an EA Sports All-American (first team 2008, second team 2007), a Slam Magazine First Team All-American (2008), and a Street & Smith All-American (2008). She helped the Red Team to victory in the 2008 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game. The 2006 MVP of the Arkansas State AAAA championships had 30 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in the championship game to lead Morrilton to the title. In 2006 she was named the Orlando Sentinel Arkansas Player of the Year in and to the Arkansas AAAA all-state team. Last week, she was named to the 2008 USA Women’s U18 National Team.
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