Aug. 9, 2001
Waco - In just her first season as a head coach, Baylor `s Kim Mulkey-Robertson's initial recruiting class is ranked No. 24 in the nation by the national recruiting service All Star Girls Report (ASGR).
Mulkey-Robertson and her staff signed five players in the early signing period last November. That quintet will report to Baylor this fall and join a program that posted a 21-9 record last season, ended the season ranked 23rd nationally and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Joining the Lady Bear program as freshmen will be Steffanie and Tiffanie Blackmon, Jordan Davis, Melanie Hamerly and Lauren Selmon. The Blackmons, 6-2 twin towers from Rowlett, Texas, averaged 22.3 points, 13.3 rebounds (Steffanie) and 10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds a game (Tiffanie) as seniors. Guard Jordan Davis scored 14.5 points and dished out 8.2 assists an outing for Celina (TX) HS last year and Melanie Hamerly, a 6-5 post out of Orange, Texas (Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS), scored 18.8 points and hauled down 10.9 rebounds a contest as a senior. The freshman class' lone out-of-state recruit, Lauren Selmon, averaged 18.0 points and 10.1 rebounds for Oklahoma's Norman HS.
"All the rankings and preseason recognition are favorable in that it brings recognition to our program," said Mulkey-Robertson. "But, as coaches, we really don't take much stock in that because on paper everyone's good. When you get at this level and get out there and compete on a daily basis it starts to separate a little bit."
The ASGR rankings listed Tenneessee and Rutgers with the top two recruiting classes in the nation. In addition to Baylor, the only other Big 12 schools listed in the Top 25 included Texas (No. 11), Nebraska (No. 19) and Kansas State (No. 21).
2001-02 All Star Girls Report Top 25 Women's Basketball Recruiting Classes
1. Tennessee
2. Rutgers
3. Auburn
4. TCU
5. LSU
6. North Carolina
7. Stanford
8. Notre Dame
9. Duke
10. Georgia
11. Texas
12. Virginia
13. Penn State
14. Ohio State
15. Arizona
16. Michigan State
17. Oregon
18. Florida
19. Nebraska
20. UC-Santa Barbara
21. Kansas State
22. Tulane
23. North Carolina State
24. BAYLOR
25. Southern Cal
