Women's Basketball Adds Two Spring Signees
May 19, 2006 | Women's Basketball
May 19, 2006
Louisville, Ky. - Two players have signed national letters-of-intent to continue their playing careers at the University of Louisville announced head coach Tom Collen. Forward/center Michelle Poindexter and guard Courtney Simmons are the finishing touches to another impressive recruiting class for the Cardinals.
"We feel awfully good about out 2006 recruiting class," said Collen. "We signed four players ranked in the Top 100 nationally. We will also have Toni Slaughter eligible after sitting out her redshirt season. We are equally excited about bringing back another local player in Candyce Bingham, who played at Manual High School. This class bring us a lot of proven, experienced players with two junior college transfers, two Division I transfers and two of the best high school players in the country."
Poindexter, a 6-2 forward/center from Columbus, Miss., was ranked as the 21st best junior college player by All-Star Girls Report and ranked as the third best junior college post player. Poindexter just finished her sophomore season at Okaloosa-Walton Community College this past season where she averaged 6.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
She played her freshman season at Southern Miss where she started in 26 games and averaged 9.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. She finished her freshman season with six double-doubles and recorded a career-high seven blocks against DePaul. She redshirted her sophomore season with a torn ACL before transferring to Okaloosa-Walton last season.
"Michelle will be a great addition to our team," Collen said. "She can play both post positions and should impact our program immediately. We have followed her path with great interest after an outstanding freshman season at Southern Miss. It's always nice to find a player with her maturity level and talent this late in the spring. She can really run, rebound, and defend, which will help us compete in a physical conference like the BIG EAST."
Simmons, a 5-10 guard from Baton Rouge, La., finished her sophomore season at Trinity Valley Community College averaging 10.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. She finished the season shooting 58.2 percent from the field and averaged 2.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
She played one season at Tulane where she played in all 27 games while averaging 6.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game before transferring to Trinity Valley last fall. She came to Tulane ranked as the 92nd best player in the nation by All-Star Girls Report and as the 20th best guard.
"We are really excited about signing Courtney and expect her to compete for playing time at both the point and shooting guard positions," said Collen. "Before graduating from Trinity Valley she gained valuable experience as a part-time starter at Tulane her freshman year. She's a great passer and a terrific defender. She is an extremely hard worker and will bring both experience and leadership to our backcourt."
Poindexter and Simmons will join fall signees Brandie Radde and Jasmine Smith along with Xavier transfer Candyce Bingham as the Cardinals' 2006 recruiting class.
