RECRUITING  NEWS

RECRUITING IS THE LIFE BLOOD OF A PROGRAM. HERE IS THE LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES. November 5th 2007 Does landing the last remaining impact player in 2008 clinch the national recruiting title for Tennessee? Tennessee has put itself in position to repeat as HoopGurlz.com's mythical national recruiting champion after landing a verbal from Glory Johnson. Johnson, the No. 3 prospect in the HoopGurlz Hundred who lives right in the Lady Vols' backyard in Knoxville, Tenn., announced her commitment at the Webb School on Monday morning. HoopGurlz.com considers the top three prospects in its top 100 for 2008 - Johnon, No. 1 Elena Delle Donne and No. 2 April Sykes - to be recruiting equivalents of NBA "lottery picks," meaning the schools landing one of the three have the inside track on the No. 1 recruiting class ranking. Delle Donne previously pleged to Connecticut and Sykes committed to Rutgers. Glory Johnson may be the fastest player in her class, with or without the ball"Glory Johnson is in the absolute top echelon, the top tier of the 2008 class," said Chris Hansen, the National Director of Scouting for HoopGurlz. "There are some typical groupings, like the top 10 or the top 25, that a lot of people use to designate the impact players in any class who can change the face of their respective collegiate teams immediately. There are only a few in 2008, and Johnson is one of them. I'd say Delle Donne, Sykes and Johnson are those three. You could make a case for any of the three being the No. 1 player. "For Glory that case starts with her combination of size and athleticism. Even more is her aggressive style of play and that she maximizes both her size and her athleticism. Her leaping ability and strength stand out as she can get to the basket and finish near the rim, in traffic, and against taller and wider opponents. She can play uptempo and create havoc in transition or slash to the basket or post up in the half court. Defensively, she covers so much ground with the length, and add spectacular speed, and she can probably guard at least four positions on the floor and, in high school, easily all five." Johnson gives the Lady Vols the Nos. 3, 4 (Amber Gray of Cincinnati, Ohio), 8 (Shekinna Stricklen of Morrilton, Ark.), 15 (Alicia Manning of Clarkston, Ga.) and 20 (Alyssia Brewer of Saplulpa, Okla.) prospects in the 2008 class, a spectacular collection of wing-forward types. Last year, Tennesee signed the Nos. 2 (Angie Bjorklund of Spokane, Wash.), 5 (Vicki Baugh of Sacramento, Calif.), 12 (Kelley Cain of Atlanta, Ga.) and 38 (Sydney Smallbone of South Bend, Ind.) prospects in the 2007 class. November 8th  2006 Four signees give Lady Vols nation's top-ranked class The Tennessee women's basketball team signed four players, finishing off what recruiting analysts are calling the top signing class in the country. Three of the Lady Vols' signees — 6-foot guard Angie Bjorklund of Spokane, Wash., 6-4 forward Vicki Baugh of Sacramento, Calif., and 6-6 center Kelley Cain of Atlanta — were among Scout.com's top 12 players in the nation, and all four players were in the top 40. Sydney Smallbone, a 5-10 guard from South Bend, Ind., was ranked 38th. Coach Pat Summitt said the four signees filled all of UT's needs. The Lady Vols have three seniors on the current team, two of whom are forwards. "This was a real talented class, and we identified our needs in the class," Summitt said. "We felt like if we could get two guards and two front-line players that we could put together a very successful recruiting endeavor, and we did." April 14 , 2006 Lady Vols getting help at guard.  The Lady Vols have addressed their lack of depth in the backcourt during the spring signing period. Junior-college guards Shannon Bobbitt and Alberta Auguste will join the team this fall. Bobbitt, a 5-foot-4 point guard from Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College,and Auguste, a 5-foot-11 wing player at Central Florida Community College, who is originally from Marrero, La. In addition to bolstering a thin group of guards for UT at the end of last season, Bobbitt and Auguste become the first JUCO signees for the Lady Vols since Zandra Montgomery, who came from Cleveland State in 1977. Tennessee was depleted in the backcourt by the December transfer of point guard Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood to Maryland and the departure of senior Shanna Zolman. Auguste was second in the nation in scoring (23.6 ppg) and third nationally in steals with five per game. Bobbitt, also heavily pursued by Rutgers and South Florida, was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's national junior college player of the year. She averaged 18.7 points and was third nationally with eight assists per game. UT signed point guard Cait McMahan of Heritage High in Maryville and forward Nicci Moats of Daleville, Va., in November.

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