Months before the players will arrive on campus to begin preseason workouts, Pratt Community College head womens basketball coach Stephanie Shanline is excited about the 2010-11 Beaver squad.
“This class has got a buzz about it,” Shanline said after announcing that nine Kansas players and four out of state athletes have signed letters of intent to don the Beaver uniforms next fall. “There are expectations for this group, which is exciting for me. It doesn’t make me nervous, it drives Coach Harrison and I to do and be the best that we can every day so that this group can be as successful as everyone knows and thinks they are going to be. If it was August, I’d be perfectly content. I’d say lets roll.”
Shanline’s excitement stems from the talent of her ten new signees.
“We have a lot of kids, a lot of room for growth and a lot of inexperience,” she said. “Part of that’s a little nerve-wracking for me, but they have the opportunity to be that class that we’ve needed in this program for a long time. I know every single one of them is really excited about that.”
Shanline and assistant coach Patrick Harrison saw five of their future players play in the South Central Kansas All-Star Classic at PCC this past March, and Shanline said she liked what she saw on the court.
“We signed two tremendous point guards,” she said, referring to Ann Pauly – who led Garden Plain to the Class 3A State Tournament this season - and Rose Hill’s Whitney Bates. “Both of them are very athletic, very basketball smart, and they are going to be my eyes on the court, which is something I’m super excited about.”
Syracuse native Kamie Rash will join Bates and Pauly in the backcourt, and is expected to see time as the Beavers’ two-guard.
“She shoots it really well, is really athletic and very, very strong,” Shanline said of Rash. “She’s got a lot to work on as far as the college game but I definitely see her playing some minutes.”
PCC also signed three Kansans capable of playing in the post, though Goddard senior Samantha Soyez has perimeter skills as well.
“Samantha was going to go play at Friends, but under certain circumstances, she is coming to be a Beaver,” Shanline said. “She was fabulous in our all-star game and is a huge recruit for this program.”
Shanline also received letters of intent from Anna Leis of Fowler and Catie Reidel of WaKeeny.
“Catie’s 5-10 or 5-11 and Anna’s 5-9. They’re solid post players,” Shanline said. “They were both the best player off of their bad high school teams. The college game, as far as the speed and physicality of it, will be an adjustment for them, but both of them played in our all-star game and I was very, very impressed with what I saw in that game.”
PCC has also received commitments from a pair of Kansas players who were on the Friends University team this past season.
“Rachael Ely and Kinsley Hilst are coming as transfers from Friends, so they’ll be sophomores eligibility wise,” Shanline said. “I recruited them both a year ago and under certain circumstances at Friends, they’re going to join us. With as many signees as we have, the idea of a couple girls with some college experience was exciting.
Ely played high school ball at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in Wichita, while Hilst is a Hutchinson High School graduate.
“Both of them are great kids, great academically. Racheal’s a shooter, she’s 5-10, can catch it, take one dribble to the basket and pull up for the jump shot,” Shanline said. “Kinsley is 5-10 or 5-11 and she plays the four – a post spot - for us. She plays really really hard and rebounds it well.”
A pair of Pratt area players will also join the Beavers next fall.
“Shie Eck and Kristen Schmidt - two home school kids in the Pratt area - are going to be part of our team,” Shanline said. “They know they have a lot of work to do, but they’re going to be part of our program.”
With those nine joined by current PCC freshmen Laramie Lawrence, Abbey Rudd and Amanda Watson, Shanline is excited about her Kansas players for the 2010-11 season.
“We truly feel like this is the class of in-state kids that we’ve always needed to turn the corner in this program,” she said.
Shanline is also excited about the four out of state players who have signed with PCC.
Cari Guyton will be expected to do big things as the Beavers’ tallest post player.
“Cari is our first real big in this program, so we’re excited,” Shanline said. “She has a ton of upside, great hands, great ability to rebound the basketball. She is a big body and takes up a lot of space in the paint so that will be something new for people to be excited about.”
The 6-2 Akron, Ohio, product will be joined by two players from Texas and one from Arkansas as Holly Harrod, Carmen Holcomb and Shelby Wilson have also signed with PCC.
Out of state wise, we have Shelby Wilson, Cari Guyton, Holly Harrod who was our first signee, and Carmen Holcomb. Carmen is from Plano Texas, Cari is from Akron Ohio, and Shelby is from Paris Texas.
Harrod, from Hermitage, Ark., will play as a guard and forward for PCC, and in January, Shanline said that defense is a strong suit for the 5-9 Harrod.
Holcomb, a Plano, Texas, product, stands 5-11 and will play alongside Guyton in the front court. “She’s going to play the 4 spot for us,” Shanline said.
Wilson will battle for time in the backcourt, where her shooting skills should earn playing time for the Powderly, Texas, native.
With the 14 new signees and three returning players, Shanline expects her team to be much improved in 2010-11.
“The Beavers are going to be fun to watch next year,” she said. “We’re going to play very, very fast, very up and down and not as much structure on the offensive end. We’ve got players who know the game, understand the game and they can make plays on their own without a set offense.”
PCC will open the 2010-11 season Nov. 3 when they host Northern Oklahoma – Tonkawa in the Beaver Dome.
