Fab Five Becomes Sensational Six: Stone Signs Sixth Recruit
November 16, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Badger women's basketball coach Lisa Stone announced an additional signing of a player to join her group of five recruits previously announced last week. Janese Banks, a 5-10 shooting guard from Indianapolis' Ben Davis High School, announced Saturday her decision to attend the University of Wisconsin next fall.
One of the preseason favorites for Indiana state high school player of the year, Banks averaged 19.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 steals per game last season. She is ranked No. 80 among high school seniors by the Blue Star Index, and the 147th overall player by All Star Girls Report. Banks, whose brother James is a freshman wide receiver at Tennessee, is the fifth UW recruit who is a member of the Chicago Hoops Express AAU team. She earned ICGSA first team all-state honors her junior year and was named to the Indiana Junior All-star Team. She also was named academic all-state first team as a junior.
Stone said of Banks, 'Janese adds another perimeter player to our already great recruiting class.' Stone said earlier of her recruits, 'We basically have a player in each position, who is going to combine with our current women's basketball team, and who is committed to taking this program to the next level. We've addressed out needs from an athletic standpoint, from a position standpoint. We're excited about these kids. They fit in great with our staff, but more importantly, with our players.'
Other members of Stone's first recruiting class at Wisconsin include Jolene Anderson, a 5-8 guard from Port Wing, Wis. (South Shore High School); Akiya Alexander, a 5-9 guard from Evanston, Ill. (The Patterson School, Patterson, N.C.); Lesha Jones, a 6-3 post player from Detroit, Mich. (Martin Luther King High School); Danielle Ward, a 6-4 post player from Milwaukee, Wis. (Rufus King High School); Shari' Welton, a 5-11 guard from Calumet City, Ill. (Thornwood High School).
The Badgers could sign as many as seven players in this early signing period. Guard Shawna Nicols, who taking a medical redshirt due to multiple head injuries, will continue on scholarship at Wisconsin, but the scholarship will not be counted against the NCAA complement of 15 allowed on aid.
For more information on the entire class logon to http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/wbb/signing_day_2003.aspx.
