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WSU Announces Recruit Signings

Story by: Winona State Sports Information Office


WINONA, MN -- Winona State University head women’s basketball coach Scott Ballard has announced that three recruits have been signed to a national letter of intent and two players have transferred to play basketball at WSU for the 2007-08 season.

All five players have seen primiary action at the guard position. Coming in as high school recruits are Paisley Larson (Spring Valley, MN), Tori Lind (Rushford, MN) and Afton Glander (Alma, WI). Transferring in are guards Jenny Steffen from Grand Valley State University, MI and Kelsey Homewood from Kirkwood Community College, IA.

Signing last fall was forward/center Natalie Gigler from Brooklyn Park, MN.

"We are excitred about these five young ladies who signed this spring with us," said Ballard. "They round out extremely well with the early signee we had last fall and they improve our team speed and depth at every position. They should blend in well with our eight returners."

Here are comments on each of the incoming players:

Glanders: "Afton is a true point-guard who will provide us good depth and speed at that position. She is an excellent student and has a good up side to her basketball career. We feel fortunate that she decided to stay close to home and join our basketball family."

Larson: "Paisley is a very good athlete and a versatile player capable of playing the point and shooting guard positions. She will give us much needed speed and depth at the point-guard position and has potential to develop into a very good player in our league. We are excited about her decision to become a Warrior.

Lind: "Tori will improve our depth and team speed at the wing position and could develop into a very good scorer with the ability to shoot a deep three (-point field goal shot) or a pull up, mid-range, jumper. She has a tremendous up side and her work ethic should accelerate her development."

Homewood: "It was imperative that we signed an experienced and proven college point-guard to replace Shelby Krueger, who graduated. Kelsey is a tough minded competitor with good basketball instincts who knows what it takes to win. Her quickness, work ethic and shooting accuracy will benefit us greatly."

Steffen: "Jenny gives us another versatile big guard with college experience at the 1 through 4 positions. She is a great competitor and has won a state championship at DePere High School in Green Bay, WI and a national championship at Grand Valley State University. Jenny is a honor student academically and will help our young team immediately both offensively and defensively.

Winona State is a member of NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Here is a capsule look at the signees:

Larson, Paisley, Fr, 5-8, Guard, Spring Valley, MN (Kingsland)

High school: Three-Time All-State, Five-Time All-Conference, Conference all-time leading scorer for both girls and boys, Three-Time Team Captain.

Lind, Tori, Fr, 5-9, Guard, Rushford, MN (Mabel-Canton)

High school: Academic All-State, Four-Time Conference All-Academic, All-State, Three-Time All-Conference, Conference Player of the Year, Mabel-Canton Female Athlete of the Year, Two-Time MVP, Two-Time Team Captain.

Glander, Afton, Fr, 5-4, Guard, Alma, WI

High school: Valedictorian, Presidential Award winner, Conference All-Academic, First Team All-State, All-Star Game participant, Three-Time All-Northwest, All-Area, Four-Time All-Conference, 1,000-point scorer, Four-Time Team Best Offensive/Defensive Player, Team Captain Basketball; All-Area, All-Conference, Team Best Defensive Player, Team Captain Volleyball; State participant in Long jump, All-Conference in 100, 200, 4 x 200 relay and Long jump, Team Captain Track and Field; All-Conference, Team Captain Softball.

Transfers:

Homewood, Kelsey, Jr, 5-6, Guard, Iowa City, IA (Regina/Kirkwood CC)

Junior College: Member of Division II Junior College National Champion team.

High school: Two-Time All-State, Iowa City, IA Athlete of the Year 2004, Three-Time All-District, Four-Time All-Conference, Two-Time Team Captain.

Steffen, Jenny, Jr, 5-10, Guard, DePere, WI (Grand Valley State, MI)

Grand Valley State: Member of 2005-06 NCAA Division II National Champion team.

High school: Two-Year class president, Four-year student council representative, Three-Year Member of National Honor Society, Bellin Health Sports Medicine Female Athlete of the Year in 2005, Lund Memorial Scholarship recipient 2005, Member of 25-2 and state championship team in 2005, Two-Time All-State, WCA All-Star, Four-Time All-Conference, All-Time leading scorer, Two-Time Team Captain Basketball; Sectional qualifier Cross Country; Sectional qualifier Track and Field.

Early signee:

Gigler, Natalie, Fr, 6-0, Forward/Center, Brooklyn Park, MN (Champlin Park)

High school: All-State, Three-Time All-Conference, All-Time leading scorer, High school career 1,000-point scorer, Team Captain.

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 10:34 by Michael Herzberg