Women's Basketball signs four to National Letters of Intent
AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas women's basketball head coach Jody Conradt announced Wednesday the signing of four high school players to National Letters of Intent for the upcoming 2006-07 academic year. All four of the signees are in-state recruits, led by scholastic All-America 6-0 combo guard Brittainey Raven (Fort Worth, Texas), the nation's No. 3 ranked recruit and consensus No. 1 player in the state of Texas, who stars at North Crowley High School. The other three signees are: 6-1 forward Vantranique (Niqky) Hughes (Waxahachie, Texas/Waxahachie HS), a top 25 recruit and scholastic All-American who is ranked as the No. 4 player in the state of Texas and the No. 7 player nationally (by Basketball Times); Gabrielle (Gabe) Mattox (Kountze, Texas/Kountze HS), a 5-11 power forward standout and the state's 10th-ranked player who led Kountze to the Texas; and 6-3 forward Kristen Nash (Plano, Texas), a scholastic All-American ranked as the state's fifth-best player who stars at State 5A Plano West High School. The signing of this standout quartet of players follows Conradt's current freshmen class of seven - the largest freshmen class in program history - which was ranked as the nation's No. 1 recruiting class last year by the All-Star Girls Report recruiting service. Wednesday is the first day of the November early signing period, which runs through Wednesday, Nov. 16. With these four commitments, Texas has concluded its early signings. The signees are headlined by the nation's No. 3 ranked recruit Raven. A consensus preseason All-America pick by Street & Smith, Parade and adidas, Raven averaged 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists last a junior last year for State 5A power North Crowley. Her No. 3 national ranking comes from the Full Court Press recruiting service, while she is ranked No. 5 in Mike White's All-Star Girls Report where she holds the nation's top ranking at her position. "This is another outstanding class coming to The University of Texas," noted Conradt upon receiving the four National Letter of Intents. "This year, we've signed four Texas players, and it is my belief that the high school basketball in our state is better than any other place in the country. Players from our state have been instrumental in building our program to what it is. These are four of the very best in our state. They are extremely versatile with outstanding skills, and I expect all of them to have an immediate impact in our program. "Individually, Brittainey Raven is one of the top players in country who we have been following for quite some time. Brittainey is an exciting player. She is extremely versatile, a big guard with outstanding speed; in fact, I believe she will be the fastest player we've ever had in our program," said Conradt. "Niqky Hughes is the sister of our former football star Antwan Kirk-Hughes, and she will bring an incredible quickness and relentless rebounding skill to our team, and I see her playing a combination of positions. Kristen Nash is an inside-outside player with great perimeter skills. She is the ultimate team player with a tremendous work ethic. Gabby (Gabrielle) Mattox is not as well known as the other three, but we've watched her for some time, as she led her team to the State finals as a freshman and then again to the State Tournament in Austin last year. Again, she has great versatility, outstanding ball instinct, and is a great passer." Here are brief bios/honors/accomplishments on this elite class of Texas signees. Vantranique (Niqky) Hughes (6-1 Forward, Waxahachie, Texas/Waxahachie HS) Gabrielle (Gabe) Mattox (5-11 Forward, Kountze, Texas/Kountze HS) Kristen Nash (6-3 Forward, Plano, Texas/Plano West HS) Brittainey Raven (6-0 Guard, Forth Worth, Texas/North Crowley HS)
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