May 12, 2015
THE FLATS — Georgia Tech women’s basketball head coach MaChelle Joseph announced on Tuesday that Irene Gari has signed a Grant-In-Aid to join the Yellow Jackets for the 2015-16 season. Gari will transfer from UTEP and be eligible to play immediately as a graduate student transfer.
“I am so excited to have Irene join our Georgia Tech program,” Joseph said. “She is a versatile forward that can play inside or out. She is strong and physical and can play multiple positions. It’s very impressive to me that she graduated in three years from UTEP. She is as committed academically as she is athletically. Her experience and maturity will be an asset for our young team. Her international experience and collegiate playing experience will be invaluable to us next season.”
Gari, a native of Oliva, Spain, joins Martine Fortune, Dejoria Howard, Ciani Cryor and Chelsea Guimaraes who all signed NLI’s, as incoming Yellow Jacket this season. Elo Edeferioka will also join the Jackets after transferring from Hofstra, but will have to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules. Fortune, Howard and Cryor were ranked as the #14 recruiting class in the nation by Blue Star Basketball. The All Star Girls Report tabbed the class as the 25th best while Prospect’s Nation ranked it at #26 in the country.
“Irene is very fundamentally sound which allows her to be a great face up forward,” Daniel Prince of Passion Hoops International said. “Her movement without the ball is second to none. At any given moment she’s capable of rattling off 25 points and double-digit rebounds. I have loved watching Gari play since she was 15.”
Irene Gari, Guard/Forward, Oliva, Spain, UTEP
Gari played three seasons for the UTEP Miners and averaged 5.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game and 1.0 assists per game over three seasons. She saw action in 95 games for the Miners, starting 47.
In her final season for the Miners, Gari averaged 6.9 points per contest, 4.4 rebounds per game and 1.1 assists per game. She scored a career-high 25 points against Houston Baptist and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds twice, against UTSA and Florida Atlantic. Gari played in 28 games, starting 24, and shot 36.3 percent from the floor (77-for-212). She recorded two double-doubles on the season and had five games in double-digit scoring figures. Gari grabbed at least 11 rebounds on three separate occasions.
As a sophomore, Gari played in 35 games, averaging 3.8 points per game. She shot 41.8 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent from behind the arc. She totaled a season-best 18 points against Marshall and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds against Texas Southern. Gari recorded six games in double-figures and handed out 60 assists during her sophomore campaign.
Gari started 23 of 32 games as a freshman, playing an average of 23.8 minutes per game. Gari averaged 5.5 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game during her rookie season. She recorded seven double-digit scoring games. Gari followed up a 19 point outing against NM State with 14 points against ENMU on her way to Conference USA Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 10, 2012. She was third on the team in 3-pointers made (20) and her 20 made 3-pointers were the 10th most in a single season by a UTEP freshman She recorded 50 assists on the season.
While at UTEP, Gari also excelled off the court, being honored on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2013 and 2014 and was honored as a C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medalist in 2013.
Gari brings a wealth of international experience to the Yellow Jackets. She was a member of Spain’s national team at the U18 Eurobasket in the summer of 2012. She aided Spain to a fifth-place finish in their section of the event in Romania, which automatically qualified them for the 2013 World U19 Championships. Gari has also competed for Spain in various tournaments all over Europe, including the 2010 FIBA U16 European Championship.
Gari is the daughter of Ana Juila and Vincente Gari and has two brothers. She started playing basketball at the age of 12 and enjoys going to the movies and hanging out with her family in her spare time.
–TogetherWeSwarm–
