Nov. 13, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head women's basketball coach Joi Williams announced on Thursday that Gevenia "Ne" Carter (Houston, Texas) has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Knights next fall.
Carter is the 61st ranked player in the Class of 2009 according to the ESPNU HoopGurlz Top 100. The first top 100 recruit for the UCF women's basketball program, Carter is the lone early commitment in the top 100 of the class to sign with a Conference USA institution.
"I am extremely excited to have someone of Ne's talent level to join our program," Williams said. "Although she is a very talented player, she is an even better person, and it was important for us to get to know her family. She has the confidence in our staff to make the commitment to come here and help build a tradition here, and that means a lot to me."
Playing for Westfield High School, Carter has been an impact player since her freshman season. She has been the Most Valuable Player of her district as both a sophomore and a junior and was the district newcomer of the year as a freshman. In her junior season, Carter averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.2 steals per contest.
"I started off with a lot of different colleges on my mind, and I did not consider UCF at first," Carter said. However, I started to talk to the coaches, and they seemed like really good people. My main focus was the people, and I felt by going to UCF I would get the basketball exposure as well as everything I needed academically. Even though I could have gone to other schools in Texas, I still felt I could be homesick there. When I [visited UCF], I felt like it was home."
Carter drew interest from numerous top-notch programs, including Texas A&M, Kansas, Kansas State, Houston and Rice.
"She will add to our athleticism, and she has the ability to play both the point guard position and the off-guard position. She can score in a variety of ways, and she has the ability to make everyone around her better."
Dominant in the high school ranks, Carter also has a stellar background in AAU basketball playing for the Houston Insiders. She made the All-Tournament team and was instrumental in helping the team to second and third-place performances the past two years at Basketball at the Bayou.
"She is a very competitive player that possesses the will to win," said Houston Insiders AAU head coach James Daniel. "She will do anything and everything in her power to win within the team concept. She is the ultimate team player even though she can take over the game from the guard spot. She is a powerful player with a lot of lift on her jumper, and she has tremendous range. Coach Williams and her staff are getting a very good basketball player, but I think her best basketball is ahead."
Carter is the 12th-ranked guard nationally and the top ranked guard in the state of Texas. She is the sixth-ranked player overall from Texas, a state with three of the top five recruits in the country.
While Carter will focus on her final season of high school basketball and graduation, UCF turns its attention to the season opener at Colorado on Sunday, Nov. 16. The contest with the Buffs in Boulder, Colo., tips off at 4:30 p.m.
Season tickets for the UCF women's basketball program are currently on sale through the UCF ticket sales office. For more information about the arena's premium seating options, including club seats, group discounts, courtside tables and suites, contact the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000 or visit the women's basketball ticket page at UCFAthletics.cstv.com/tickets/w-baskbl-tickets.html.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.