SSU Women's Basketball Inks Five Recruits

April 19, 2008
SAVANNAH, Ga.- Cedric Baker is continuing his turn-around of the Savannah State women's basketball program with the signing of five new recruits.

"I am very excited about our upcoming freshmen class," said Baker. "We will add a great deal of athleticism, size and length. All of the young ladies have an ever improving skill set.".

Baker went to his hometown of Columbus, Georgia to find four of the players- Ashlee Barley, Kymberli Stamps, Raven Fields and Shikerrie Turpin. Alicia Nelson is from nearby Phenix City , Alabama.

"It's always good to have an opportunity to go home and visit my alma mater (Kendrick). I'm very proud of the girls varsity team and even more elated to sign five of the top recruits in the Bi-City area," said Baker.

Fields and Turpin, who played together at Spencer High School, signed with SSU during the early signing period in November 2007.

Barley and Stamps were apart of Kendrick High School's 33-0 state AAA championship team while Nelson won a state title at Glenwood Academy this season.

All four Columbus signees were nominated for the All Bi-City All Star Classic. The 5-7 Barley played point guard and averaged 10.2 points a game, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 4.4 steals. She shot 42 percent from the filed and scored a season-high 19 points in a 100-11 victory over Harris County. Barley was first team All Bi-City and made four trips to the state final four. During her career, she played in 126 games and only lost five.

Stamps, a 5-11 shooting guard, posted similar numbers. Stamps averaged 10 points a game, 3.9 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.2 assists. The All Bi-City player hit 42 percent of her 3-point attempts and posted a career-high 24 points in a 92-62 win over Monroe in the state semi-finals. She appeared in four final four games and helped Kendrick to a 125-5 record in her career.

Fields is a 6-3 forward/center who averaged 17 points and six rebounds a game. The 2008 McDonald's All American nominee was one of the top prospects in the nation ranking in the top 200 by Roundball Journal and #11 in the state of Georgia. Fields was a Street and Smith All American Honorable Mention in 2006-07.

Turpin averaged nine points and six rebounds as a senior. The 5-11 guard/forward was a McDonald's All American nominee this past season.

Nelson is a 6-3 center/forward and was named to the all-state team picked by the Alabama Sportswriters Association and helped her school win back-to-back state championships. Nelson was a perfect 12-for-12 from the field as she scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the state semi-finals. In the finals, she scored 17 points and added 12 rebounds as Glenwood finished with a 30-3 record. A Bi-City honoree and the Alabama Independent Schools Association Class AAA state tournament Most Valuable Player, Nelson is the first female player from Glenwood to sign a basketball scholarship with a Division I school. Nelson scored over 1,000 points and grabbed over 1,000 rebounds in her 3-year career at Glenwood.

"The young ladies my staff and I recruited will have an immediate impact on the women's basketball program," said Baker.