Nov. 13, 2002
ATLANTA — Stephanie Higgs, a 5-9 guard from Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, Ga., and Kentrina Wilson, a 6-1 forward from Deerfield Beach High in Deerfield Beach, Fla., signed National Letters of Intent with Georgia Tech, women’s basketball head coach Agnus Berenato announced on Wednesday.
“Once again my staff did a great job of recruiting this year,” said Berenato. “My assistant coaches MaChelle Joseph and Jeffrey Williams, along with Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick being just added to our staff, did a great job in addressing our needs. We really recruited both Kentrina and Stephanie since they were juniors and I don’t think we realized we would be able to get both of them. I think it’s a compliment to our school, staff and the current team that both of the players committed to us over the summer and we are ecstatic that they want to come here and be a part of our program. Both Stephanie and Kentria come from great high school and AAU programs and because of that they have been very well coached. On top of their great basketball skills, they are both excellent students.”
A player that will give Georgia Tech added depth in the backcourt will be Higgs, who was tabbed as a preseason All-American by Street & Smith entering the 2002-03 season. This summer, she was selected to the all-star team of the Top-Ten adidas camp and led her AAU team to a third-place finish at the national tournament. As a junior, Higgs averaged 21.9 points and four steals in leading Central Gwinnett to a 25-5 record and a round of 16 appearance in the state tournament. During the 2001 season, Higgs helped lead Central Gwinnett to a 29-2 record and the Georgia state championship as she averaged 19.4 points, six steals and four assists per game. That year, she joined the 1,000-point club by scoring a school-record, 657 points during the season. An all-around student-athlete, Higgs carries a 3.8 high school grade point average and is an active participant in the Feed the Hungry Campaign.
“I think that Stephanie is going to be a great student-athlete for us,” said Berenato. “We think that she can come in and run the point for us right away. She has great court awareness and can get the ball into the post, as well as being a great scorer. I think that she is going to have an immediate impact.”
Also a 2002-03 preseason All-American by Street & Smith, Wilson will be a welcome addition tot he Yellow Jacket frontcourt next season at the wing position. A year ago, Wilson served as team captain and led Deerfield Beach to the state finals en route to earning class 6A first-team all-state and all-county honors from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald. A finalist for Miss Basketball honors in Florida, she was also nominated for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award after averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds in 2002. Wilson was an all-tournament selection at both the South Florida Camp and the adidas Roundball Classic. As a junior, she averaged 22 points and eight rebounds while being named the 39th overall prospect on the adidas All-Star Girls Report Top 100 players list. An outstanding student as well, Wilson is a member of the National Honor Society and has earned Principal’s Honor Roll status with a 4.0 GPA in each of the past two years.
“Kentrina has a great body for a wing player and can come in and have an immediate impact for us,” said Berenato. “She is a very versatile player and she has done a lot of work on her outside shot over the past year. Both her high school and AAU teams have moved her from the post to the wing, so she is already in the process of learning that position. We like how active she is on the ball and she’s very explosive going to the basket. She is certainly a different type of player than what we’ve had before and she has good size and strength.”
GEORGIA TECH WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SIGNEESStephanie Higgs, 5-9, G, Lawrenceville, Ga. (Central Gwinnett)Kentrina Wilson, 6-1, F, Deerfield Beach, Fla. (Deerfield Beach)
