Shocker WBB Recruiting - Class of 2019

[1972Shocker]

Shocks got another commitment from this young lady...

https://twitter.com/saucyyyd/status/1121821060750557185

Good find.

Good to add another Junior to the mix since that is where we have our biggest hole class-wise on the roster.

We have had some pretty good luck recruiting Diamonds. Jessica Diamond and Diamond Lockhart specifically. However, this is totally different type of Diamond who, at 6-5, towers over those previous two Diamonds.

Here are Dianond Forrest's stats from her sophomore year at Walters State: https://www.wsccathletics.com/sports...t_diamond_eprl

She only played 12.2 minutes per game as a sophomore (14.0 mpg in conference play) and it wasn't because she was picking up that many fouls.

Not a big scorer but very solid shooting percentages,.

Clearly has great size but she only started 1 game as a sophomore so not quite sure what she will bring to the court.

[New2Wu]

Wasn't quite sure of her talent-wise due to the mentioned stats but she does give us some much needed height in the post. Hopefully she comes in a provides a boost down low.

[1972Shocker]

6-2 and 6-3 is good enough height to compete against the majority of the teams in the AAC except maybe UConn. 6-5 is nice but what would be better would be experienced and skilled height. That is just going to take time. We have pretty good size on the roster for next year with 6-2 Trajata Colbert, 6-3 Asia Henderson, 6-3 Ashlei Kirven and 6-5 Diamond Forrest. I say size and not just height because all these ladies are pretty big bodies. What we don't have is experienced size with only 302 minutes of division 1 experience or about 15 games at 20 minutes a game.

How much skill and athleticism this group will bring to the table remains to be seen. What bringing in Diamond Forrest does is perhaps give HCKA the ability to redshirt a big if she wants to although Asia is not a candidate as she has already used a redshirt.

It's possible she could redshirt Diamond if she thinks she needs an extra year of development. Note that she did redshirt Raven Prince as a junior after she transferred but Butler County although I don't really know the reasons for that decision. The negative to that is she would be added to this year's 6 player sophomore class next year which IMO is going the wrong way in terms of balancing out the classes.

As I have mentioned before I wished that Trajata had redshirted last year as a freshman. Whether or not that is a possibility as a sophomore I don't know. I'm guessing that probably isn't going to happen.

No way of knowing if incoming freshman Ashlei Kirven is a redshirt candidate or not. I'm hoping she isn't.

[ShockTalk]

Good find.

Good to add another Junior to the mix since that is where we have our biggest hole class-wise on the roster.

We have had some pretty good luck recruiting Diamonds. Jessica Diamond and Diamond Lockhart specifically. However, this is totally different type of Diamond who, at 6-5, towers over those previous two Diamonds.

Here are Dianond Forrest's stats from her sophomore year at Walters State: https://www.wsccathletics.com/sports...t_diamond_eprl

She only played 12.2 minutes per game as a sophomore (14.0 mpg in conference play) and it wasn't because she was picking up that many fouls.

Not a big scorer but very solid shooting percentages,.

Clearly has great size but she only started 1 game as a sophomore so not quite sure what she will bring to the court.

We will get a chance to see why Diamond only played the minutes she did, up close and personal. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu. 4 Star player to Memphis.

Here's her Walters' stats.

[1972Shocker]

Good Find. That certainly explains a lot. Let's hope we have a Diamond in the Rough.

[1972Shocker]

Adams Adds Two During Spring Signing Period

Wichita State women's basketball head coach Keitha Adams announced the addition of two signees who are set to join the program this fall.
Vendela Danielsson and Diamond Forrest signed National Letters of Intent to join the Shocker basketball family, completing the recruiting class for 2019. Danielsson and Forrest join Fall signees, Ashlei Kirven, DJ McCarty and Mariah McCully.

Vendela Danielsson | 5'8" | Guard | Uppsala, Sweden | Broward College

Danielsson joins the Black and Yellow after two seasons at Broward College in Davie, Fla. The Uppsala, Sweden, native was a two-time First Team All-Conference selection for Broward and 2018 Third Team Academic All-American. This past season she averaged 14.9 points, while shooting 40 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and 83 percent from the free throw line. She totaled seven games of 20 or more points, including a season-high 32 against Indian River State College on Jan. 27. As a freshman at Broward, she posted 14.7 points per game with eight games of 20-plus points. She reached double-figures in all but six games she played in as a freshman. Danielsson also helped the Swedish U19 team to the 2016 Swedish Championship and was named the MVP of the First Round. As a member of the U18 Swedish Team she scored 16.4 points a contest. She is the daughter of Per and Anna Danielsson and has two brothers: Wille and Joel and two sisters: Filippa and Tyra. Her uncle Olof Jonsson played basketball at Hofstra University and for the Swedish National Team. Danielsson plans to major in business management and marketing at Wichita State.

Coach Adams on Danielsson: "We're excited to add Vendela to our team for next season. We wanted to add a very good outside shooter to this class and she can really knock down shots. She has great work ethic, is an excellent student and will be a positive addition to our program."

Diamond Forrest | 6'5" | Center | Smyrna, Tenn. | Walters State JC

Forrest comes to the Air Capital from Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tenn. She finished her sophomore season averaging 6.8 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor. She registered 10 games of 10 or more points, including a season-high 16 points on Jan. 16 vs. Cleveland State. She doubled her production from her freshman to sophomore campaign. As a freshman, Forrest averaged just 3.1 points in only 3.3 minutes per game. Forrest helped Walters State clinch its eighth straight Region VII title in 2018 before ending the season in the second round of the NJCAA Division I Championship. In her final game at Walters State, Forrest scored a team-high 14 points. Forrest attended Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Tenn., where she was a two-time team captain and two-year starter on back-to-back state championship teams. She is the daughter of Micheal Forrest and Demia Espinal. She has five brothers (Johnothan Moore, Sean Forrest, Gabriel Espinal, Emmanuel Espinal and Darius Espinal) and one sister (Micah Forrest). Her father, Micheal, played basketball at Eastern Illinois. She plans to major in communications at Wichita State.

Coach Adams on Forrest: "We're very pleased to bring a true center to our team. Diamond has a great touch around the basket, strong hands and can rebound. She's super excited to be a Shocker. We look forward to her positive energy both on and off the court."

[1972Shocker]

The announcement of Class of 2019 contained a very interesting nugget.

Danielsson and Forrest join Fall signees, Ashlei Kirven, DJ McCarty and Mariah McCully.

Mariah McCully was actually part of last year's recruiting class. Here is the info we had at that time:

https://shockernet.net/forum/wichita-state-athletics/wichita-state-women-s-sports/23899-2018-lady-shockers-recruiting?p=1134882#post1134882

As noted last May Mariah was a NJCAA D-1 1st Team All-American as a 5-8 Combo Guard. Averaged 18.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.8 APG, 56.0 FG%, 41.1 3PT%, 70.1 FT% as a sophomore at Wabash Valley College in southeastern Illinois.

Looked like a solid juco signing. And then she didn't show up on campus last summer or fall with no information as to why provided or available as far as I could find but I don't think she played at all this past season.

Here are her Wabash Valley highlights from her sophomore year in 2017-18.

[1972Shocker]

With this information Coach Adams has filled her roster and is utilizing her full allotment of 15 scholarships. Assuming everyone shows up this summer or fall the Shockers roster will be as follows:

R-Sr. Raven Prince 6-1 F (played 2 years at Bultler County CC in Kansas)
Sr. Maya Brewer 5-11 G (played 2 years at State Fair CC in Missouri)
Sr. Ashley Reid 5-5 G (played 2 years at New Mexico JC)

Jr. Vandela Danielson 5-8 G (player from Sweden who played 2 years at Broward JC in Florida)
Jr. Diamond Forrest 6-5 P (played 2 years at Walters State JC in Tennessee)
Jr. Mariah McCully 5-8 G (played 2 years at Wabash JC in Illinois and apparently sat out last year)

R-So. Asia Henderson 6-3 P
So. Seraphine Bastin 5-8 G (player from Belgium)
So. Carla Bremaud 5-11 G (player from France)
So. Jaida Hampton 5-10 G (was the State of Michigan Miss Basketball as a senior)
So. Shyia Smith 5-11 F
So. Trajata Colbert 6-2 P

R-Fr. Natalia Ryng (player from Poland)
Fr. Ashlie Kirven 6-3 P
Fr. DJ Mcarty 5-8 G

Looks like a good job by Coach Adams in plugging the hole she had in the junior class. Had she redshirted Trajata Colbert last year she would basically have the class imbalance she inherited resolved. Never the less good progess has been made in that resect with this Juco signing class.

Still pretty inexperienced with 9 players have 1 year of D-1 experience and 6 players with 2 years of Juco play which may or may not be valuable. Hopefully, the this juco signing class will adapt to D-1 basketball quickly. Another year for growth and development this next season I think with the year after looking like the Shocks could be very solid.

[mumdaddy316]

https://twitter.com/maniotwup/status/1134906325849268226?s=19

picked up commitment from this young lady!

[1972Shocker]

Good find. However, Emani Jenkins is Class of 2020. So I have started a Shocker WBB Class of 2020 recruiting thread and posted this to that thread.