Nov. 13, 2008
ATLANTA – Three high school women’s basketball standouts have signed letters of intent to play at Georgia Tech beginning in the 2009-10 season, head coach MaChelle Joseph announced Thursday morning.
Joining the Yellow Jacket program are 5-9 Sharena Taylor from Pontiac, Mich., 6-2 Kennesaw, Ga., native Jasmine Blain and 6-5 center Shayla Bivins of Jacksonville Fla. The trio has formed the No. 18 rated class in the nation by All-Star Girls Report.
“We are really excited about this class,” Joseph said. “We have signed an impact point, a shooting guard with size and a physical post that has tremendous upside. My staff has done an unbelievable job the past three seasons, following up back-to-back top-10 classes with another class ranked in the nation’s top 20 this year.”
“MaChelle Joseph is a tremendous recruiter and has done an outstanding job over the last few years,” Dan Olsen of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report said. “She has picked up an outstanding local product in Blain, an impact point guard in Taylor and solid post in Bivins.”
Taylor, a point guard from Detroit Country Day School in Pontiac, Mich., was a member of the 2008 Class B State Champions. She is currently ranked 35th in the nation by Collegiate Girls Basketball Reports and is No. 8 at her position. She was also ranked as the nation’s No. 7 point guard and 53rd player overall by Hoopgurlz. Taylor was named to the 2008 The Detroit News Girls’ All-State Basketball Team Class B Honorable Mention. She also earned the distinction of being named as one of the top players for the greater Detroit area by Rise Magazine. Taylor chose the Yellow Jackets over offers from Georgia and Auburn.
“The Georgia Tech coaching staff got a really good point guard for the future in Taylor,” Brett McCormick of All-Star Girls Report said. “She should be an impact player from the day she steps on campus. She has great size and is physically ready for the next level.”
Blain, a shooting guard from North Cobb High School, was named to the Atlanta Tip-Off Club’s 2008 Jackie Bradford All-Metro Team and the Atlanta Journal Constitution 2007-08 All-Northwest Girls’ Team. Blain was ranked 58th in the nation by All-Star Girls Report and 84th by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Through her junior season, Blain has scored more than 1,080 points in her career. She is an honor roll student and a member of the Warrior Athletes Leadership Club.
Rounding out the class of 2009 is Bivins, a center out of Stanton Prep School. A highly-toughted recruit by both Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and All-Star Girls Report. She was named the No. 1 player in the class of 2009 in the state of Florida by FloridaHoops.com. Bivins was also ranked in the top 50 girls basketball players for the class of 2009 by FloridaProspects.com. She is a member of the National Honor Society and is an honor roll student. Bivins picked Georgia Tech over Miami, Florida State and South Carolina.
“We have a very young and talented basketball team,” Joseph said. “This class will provide the depth we will need to continue building this program into a national power in women’s basketball. We are excited about the impact this class will have on our program.”
Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Signees
Sharena Taylor, PG, 5-9, Pontiac, Mich. (Detroit Country Day School)
Jasmine Blain, SG, 6-2, Kennesaw, Ga. (North Cobb High School)
Shayla Bivins, C, 6-5, Jacksonville, Fla. (Stanton Prep School)
– RamblinWreck.com –
