Women's Basketball signs six for 2007-08 season
11/08/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2006
By Shalae Schulte
www.siusalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois women's basketball head coach Dana Eikenberg and her staff sign the largest recruiting class since taking the reigns at SIU two years ago. The Saluki coaching staff signed six athletes, including four from Illinois.
Paris Campbell, Brenna Saline, Katrina Swingler, Ellen Young, Natalie Taylor and Tanaeya Worden signed letters of intent to play for the Dawgs in 2007-08.
In regards to her largest batch of signees at SIU, Eikenberg had this to say.
"I am excited about next year's class," stated Eikenberg. "I think we hit the nail on the head, covering all of the spots that we need to cover. We got speed, athleticism, shooters and basketball IQ kids."
"We've got six kids from six quality head coaches and six quality high school programs."
A 5-6 guard, Young hails from Salem, and presently attends Salem Community High School. In 2005-06, she was named second-team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA), Player of the Year in class AA by the Centralia Sentinel, and was first-team All-SICA. Young also earned her team's Most Valuable Player and Best Offense awards.
Statistically, Young has scored 1,743 career points, and is on pace to break the schools scoring record of 2,335 in 2006-07. Last season, she scored 745 points, second all-time at Salem.
"We were fortunate right away," said Eikenberg of Young, who hails from the same high school as former Saluki Danette Jones. "Ellen is an explosive guard that will play the perimeter. She has an unbelievable vertical, great speed and really has a great ability to break down defenders."
Swingler (6-0, G/F) is from Teutopolis, and is a senior at Teutopolis High School. She helped lead the Wooden Shoes to a Class A super sectional bid a year ago. She earned all-area honors averaging 15 points and 8.5 rebounds, while adding 74 steals.
"Swingler is probably the dark horse of this group," Eikenberg said. "She comes from a great program. She's a four to five player with good size. She has a big strong body and big hands and works extremely hard. She's not going to stand around and wait for things to happen, she's going to make things happen. We think that she will give us great depth and help continue to build this program."
A native of Chicago, Campbell is a 6-2 forward/center who averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 boards a game, shooting 55.4 percent from the field for Whitney Young High School. Her team finished 28-2 a year ago, third in the state.
"Campbell comes from what I think is one of the best programs in Illinois," commented Eikenberg. "She played behind Amanda Thompson, an All-American that went to Oklahoma. She has seen true athleticism and had to guard it. She is an undersized four player with great speed, athleticism, mobility, versatility and strength. She's also a lefty, giving us another nice dimension to go with Gibson, Olsen, Dietz and Sales."
Saline is a 5-7 guard from Galesburg, where she attends Galesburg High School. A two-year starter, elected the team captain as a senior, she enters her final season ranked seventh on the career list for three-pointers, 13th on the career scoring list with 934 points and 18th on the career assists list. A two-time all-conference pick as a sophomore and junior, Saline earned IBCA All-State honors both seasons.
Saline led her team to a 23-9 record in 2005-06, averaging 12.3 points. In her three years on varsity, her team has recorded a 80-19 record, ranked in the top-10 in Illinois each year.
"Saline plays for one of the state's greatest coaches in Evan Massey," Eikenberg said. "Brenna can stroke it and has a tremendous ability. She can flex a little bit at the one so she also gives us another person to back up the points. She brings great basketball IQ, is hard working and just a blue-collar athlete, someone I think the fans will enjoy watching."
Taylor joins the 2007-08 class from De Pere, Wis. A 6-0 guard from De Pere High School, she averaged 14.7 points, 4.7 boards, 2.4 steals and recorded 31 blocked shots as a junior. A two-time all-conference selection, she earned All-Metro honors last season.
She led her team to a 22-2 record a year ago, and a 64-9 career record, including a state title in 2004-05.
"Taylor brings a terrific Valley body right away," Eikenberg commented. "She's six foot, and built like she's already been in college for a couple of years. Her size is going to be able to bring some boards. She has a great basketball IQ and a great work ethic and will really fit our three position."
Worden is the final signee of the 2006-07 class. A 5-5 point guard from Sioux City, Iowa, she is a three-time first-team All-Missouri River Activities Conference and a first-team All-Metro pick at Sioux City North High School.
Worden earned first-team All-State honors by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association, second-team honors by the Des Moines Register, all-district honors from the IGCA and Iowa Basketball Coaches Association, first-team All-Western Iowa by the Omaha World Herald and first-team All-Northwest Iowa by the Sioux City Journal, averaging 13.5 points, 3.0 assists and 4.0 steals as a junior.
Worden begins her senior season with 819 career points, three straight MRAC titles and a state tournament appearance in 2006.
"Tanaeya is our speed along with Young," Eikenberg said. "She will really give us a speedy backcourt. She's a small guard, but has quick hands and quick delivery of the basketball, along with a quick outside jumper."
In regards to the group as a whole, Eikenberg says, "There is excitement in this group. We feel really blessed. My staff did a great job of finding the right programs, head coaches and the right kids to continue to bring in and build. We haven't turned a corner completely, but with this group of kids will really help us get to the top of the Valley."