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Baugh joins working class
Lady Vols set to sign four basketball recruits
By DAN FLESER, fleser@knews.com
November 7, 2006
Tennessee made room in its women's basketball recruiting class for another top prospect.
The Lady Vols received a commitment Tuesday night from Vicki Baugh, a 6-foot-4 forward from Sacramento (Calif.) High School who is among the top 10 prospects in the class of 2007. She had been deliberating since making her final recruiting visit, to Cal last weekend.
Baugh led her team to a Northern California state championship last season, averaging 19.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, two steals and two blocks per game.
For her high school career, Baugh has scored 1,343 points and grabbed 856 rebounds.
Baugh, a first-team All-Junior selection by USA Today, played for USA Basketball's Under-18 team this summer. She averaged 11.8 points and eight rebounds for a team that went 4-0 and qualified for next summer's World Championships. Baugh's scoring average was second on the team and her rebounding was third.
Baugh will be joining three prospects, who already comprised the No. 2-rated recruiting class by the Blue Star Report, in signing a letter of intent today on the first day of the fall signing period.
The others:
Angie Bjorklund, a 6-foot guard from University High in Spokane, Wash., is the top-ranked guard prospect by HoopGurlz.com and the No. 3 national prospect by Blue Star. She was a second-team Parade All-American as a junior, averaging 19 points per game and shooting 57.9 percent on 3-pointers.
Kelley Cain, a 6-6 center from Saint Pius X in Atlanta, is the second-rated center in the class by HoopGurlz.com and the No. 13 overall prospect by Blue Star. She averaged 20.1 points, 13.2 rebounds and six blocks per game in leading St. Pius to a second consecutive Class 4A state championship last season.
Sydney Smallbone, a 5-9 guard from St. Joseph's in South Bend, Ind., is ranked 20th among guards by HoopGurlz.com and is Blue Star's No. 55 prospect. She averaged 18.9 points per game last season for a team that reached the state semifinals. She has started all 76 games played in three seasons at St. Joseph's.
All four players made their recruiting visits to Tennessee on the same mid-September weekend. St. Pius coach Stephanie Dunn came with Cain on the recruiting trip and met the other players, along with their parents and, in Baughs case, her grandmother. She noted a common thread of basketball devotion running through all the players.
In the case of Smallbone, the thread runs all the way back to her pre-teen years.
"I started working out every day after school in the sixth grade," she said.
Smallbone's mother, Maria, told Dunn that her daughter has a key to a local rec center and regularly arrives at 5:30 a.m. to work on her shooting.
"I was like, 'Wow,' " Dunn said.
Dunn has her story to tell about Cain. She works with her AAU coach every Sunday on her post game. She also has a personal trainer and works with former Olympic 400-meter relay gold medalist Antonio McKay on her footwork and agility.
As for Baugh, her high school, John Langston, said earlier this fall that basketball was her "career."
"She's running stairs when everyone else is at home," he said.
Up until this summer, Bjorklund had been working too hard, which likely played a role in two lower-leg stress fractures suffered within the space of a year. Her adjusted schedule is being monitored by her parents.
"They really care about me," Bjorklund said. "They don't want to see me hurt. I love them for it."
What happens when she gets here, where there's no parents and a new practice facility?
"Coach (Pat) Summitt, she has informed me I will not be overtraining when I get here," Bjorklund said.
Sounds like the coach might have to hold the line with all four players. She could have worse problems.
Lady Vols set to sign four basketball recruits
By DAN FLESER, fleser@knews.com
November 7, 2006
Tennessee made room in its women's basketball recruiting class for another top prospect.
The Lady Vols received a commitment Tuesday night from Vicki Baugh, a 6-foot-4 forward from Sacramento (Calif.) High School who is among the top 10 prospects in the class of 2007. She had been deliberating since making her final recruiting visit, to Cal last weekend.
Baugh led her team to a Northern California state championship last season, averaging 19.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, two steals and two blocks per game.
For her high school career, Baugh has scored 1,343 points and grabbed 856 rebounds.
Baugh, a first-team All-Junior selection by USA Today, played for USA Basketball's Under-18 team this summer. She averaged 11.8 points and eight rebounds for a team that went 4-0 and qualified for next summer's World Championships. Baugh's scoring average was second on the team and her rebounding was third.
Baugh will be joining three prospects, who already comprised the No. 2-rated recruiting class by the Blue Star Report, in signing a letter of intent today on the first day of the fall signing period.
The others:
Angie Bjorklund, a 6-foot guard from University High in Spokane, Wash., is the top-ranked guard prospect by HoopGurlz.com and the No. 3 national prospect by Blue Star. She was a second-team Parade All-American as a junior, averaging 19 points per game and shooting 57.9 percent on 3-pointers.
Kelley Cain, a 6-6 center from Saint Pius X in Atlanta, is the second-rated center in the class by HoopGurlz.com and the No. 13 overall prospect by Blue Star. She averaged 20.1 points, 13.2 rebounds and six blocks per game in leading St. Pius to a second consecutive Class 4A state championship last season.
Sydney Smallbone, a 5-9 guard from St. Joseph's in South Bend, Ind., is ranked 20th among guards by HoopGurlz.com and is Blue Star's No. 55 prospect. She averaged 18.9 points per game last season for a team that reached the state semifinals. She has started all 76 games played in three seasons at St. Joseph's.
All four players made their recruiting visits to Tennessee on the same mid-September weekend. St. Pius coach Stephanie Dunn came with Cain on the recruiting trip and met the other players, along with their parents and, in Baughs case, her grandmother. She noted a common thread of basketball devotion running through all the players.
In the case of Smallbone, the thread runs all the way back to her pre-teen years.
"I started working out every day after school in the sixth grade," she said.
Smallbone's mother, Maria, told Dunn that her daughter has a key to a local rec center and regularly arrives at 5:30 a.m. to work on her shooting.
"I was like, 'Wow,' " Dunn said.
Dunn has her story to tell about Cain. She works with her AAU coach every Sunday on her post game. She also has a personal trainer and works with former Olympic 400-meter relay gold medalist Antonio McKay on her footwork and agility.
As for Baugh, her high school, John Langston, said earlier this fall that basketball was her "career."
"She's running stairs when everyone else is at home," he said.
Up until this summer, Bjorklund had been working too hard, which likely played a role in two lower-leg stress fractures suffered within the space of a year. Her adjusted schedule is being monitored by her parents.
"They really care about me," Bjorklund said. "They don't want to see me hurt. I love them for it."
What happens when she gets here, where there's no parents and a new practice facility?
"Coach (Pat) Summitt, she has informed me I will not be overtraining when I get here," Bjorklund said.
Sounds like the coach might have to hold the line with all four players. She could have worse problems.
