12 Days to Tip-Off: Orangewomen Bring in Top 15 Recruiting Class
11/4/2002 4:25:07 PM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After losing four senior starters from last year's squad, Head Coach Marianna Freeman has compiled the 15th-ranked recruiting class in the country, according to the All-Star Girls Report.
The most heralded of these recruits is Awa Diop, (Colombes, France/Western Nebraska CC) a senior junior college transfer from Western Nebraska. The 6'4" Diop was ranked the number one junior college center in the class of 2002 and the number four junior college player regardless of position by the All-Star Girls Report.
Freshman Tierra Jackson (Upper Marlboro, Md./ Frederick Douglass) will battle for the power forward position after averaging 13.4 points per game as a four-year starter who never missed a high school game.
Freshman Jill Norton (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) will look to contribute at center for the Orangewomen. She was a member of the New Jersey All-Star team after leading her team to the state parochial title and averaging 16.5 points a game, shooting 55.4 percent from the floor her senior year.
Additional new faces include sophomore Krystalyn Ellerbe (Clinton, Md/ Tallahassee CC), a transfer from Tallahassee Community College who originally signed with Syracuse out of high school. She averaged just more than 18 minutes per game while scoring 5.9 points and grabbing 2 rebounds. Ellerbe was named to the Women's Panhandle Conference All-Freshman team.
Another new forward for the Orangewomen is April Jean (Sacramento, Calif./ Coffeyville CC (KS)) who scored more than 1,000 points in only two years at the junior college level.
Freeman is excited about the combination of young, new talent and the experience of the returnees. "I think our six returnees really enjoyed what happened to us last year-the accolades, the recognition, the excitement in the community. Well, this new class will add more excitement. They are going to live up to a great season."
The Orangewomen open the season at Loudonville, NY against Siena in the first round of the Preseason WNIT. It is SU's first-ever appearance in the 16-team event, which features 12 teams that made the 2002 post-season.
