Coach Tilley and his staff bringing in three talented recruits
by Jason Hanes
11/23/2009 10:29:48 AM
KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State head women’s basketball coach Colby Tilley and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics are proud to announce the signing of three student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent to play for the Lady Owls beginning in the 2010-11 season. Elania Gray, Brandie Green, and Taylor Mills will all join Kennesaw State beginning next season.
“We had three needs to fill and we were fortunate to get all three of those needs met by signing a point guard, a post player, and a wing guard,” Coach Tilley said. “I don’t think we could have signed three better players.”
Gray, a native of Anderson, S.C., averaged 18.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals, and 3.4 assists per game at T.L. Hanna High School, the same high school as current Lady Owls forward Tamasha Bolden. The 6-foot forward was named to the All-Area Team by the Anderson Independent Mail and earned Region I-AAAA honors during her junior season at T.L. Hanna. An AAU star, Gray’s Carolina Cougars squad finished in the Final Four in July 2008.
“Elania is the type of post player we feel fits our system perfectly,” Coach Tilley said. “She is a quick and strong forward who is a consistent scorer around the basket. With us losing Montinique Nixon after this season, we’ll afford Elaina the opportunity to come in and get a lot of playing time.”
Green will join the Lady Owls after a successful career at Lake Howell High School in Oviedo, Fla. A 5-foot-10-inch swing guard, Green’s LHHS squad won the Class 5A Florida High School Athletic Association state championship her junior year, as she averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per contest at Lake Howell in the Seminole Athletic Conference. Green also plays for the Jacksonville Lady Rams in AAU basketball.
“Brandie is a slasher-type of guard that can take it to the hole with authority or pull up for the jumper,” Coach Tilley said. “She has tremendous quickness that will be a true asset to us from a defensive standpoint.”
Mills is a three-time All-District honoree at Gibbs County High School in Corryton, Tenn. A 5-foot-7-inch point guard, she has scored over 1,500 points in her career for GCHS. An All-State selection following her junior season, Mills has been an All-Knoxville Interscholastic League selection in her first three years of high school basketball. The vice-president of her junior and senior class, Mills also excels in the classroom, posting a 4.1 GPA entering her senior year.
“Taylor has tremendous range with her shot,” said Coach Tilley. “She is the prototypical point guard for our system. She is very intelligent both from an academic sense and a basketball sense. We expect her to compete for a lot of playing time early.”
The three recruits will join the Lady Owls for KSU’s second season as a full Division I member. The current KSU squad has a record of 2-1 on the season and will host Atlantic Coast Conference foe Clemson Tuesday night at the KSU Convocation Center. Admission is free for KSU students, faculty, and staff and just $2 for all other patrons.