Nov. 23, 2009
By Andrew Gavin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Head coach Joi Williams knew that she had a strong recruiting class when she announced last week that three prep standouts - Sarah Green, Erica Jones and Aarika Judge - had signed National Letters of Intent (NLIs) to play basketball at UCF beginning in 2010-11. On Monday, she found out that her 2010 recruiting class ranks 44th nationally, according to ESPNU's HoopGurlz rankings, which tabbed the top-75 classes in the country.
Each of the three players in UCF's recruiting class is ranked among the top players nationally at their respective positions with one ranking among the top-100 players overall.
Green, a 6-2 forward from Columbia, S.C., leads the class and is ranked as the 84th best player nationally in ESPNU's HoopGurlz Top 100 and the 15th best power forward. Her signing marks the second-straight year that Williams has signed a player ranked in the top 100. Now a freshman at UCF, Gevenia Carter (Houston, Texas) ranked 61st in the class of 2009.
A senior at Irmo High School, Green averaged 11.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game as a junior a season ago. She led the state in blocked shots and was named all-region and all-area.
Jones is ranked 35th among centers in the class of 2010 and averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds per game as a junior at Smith Station High School. The 6-2 Phenix City, Ala., product was named the MVP of the state regional tournament and also to the Alabama 6A All-State team.
A native of Hephzibah, Ga., Judge is a 5-8 shooting guard who is ranked 62nd in the country at her position. In her career at Hephzibah High School, Judge has averaged 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game and knocked down 179 three-pointers. She has led her team to the Georgia Elite in all three seasons. Judge and Green were teammates on the S.C. Lady 76ers on the AAU circuit.
UCF is one of only two Conference USA programs to have its recruiting class ranked among the nation's top-75.
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