BATON ROUGE — The incoming class, consisting of four freshmen and two junior college transfers, for the 2001-02 LSU women’s basketball team has been tabbed as the fifth best in the nation, according to the All-Star Girls Report.
The class is the highest ranked ever for the Lady Tigers, who have been to the postseason for each of the past six seasons. LSU finished last season with a 20-11 mark and fell to national runner-up, Purdue, in the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the way in the class will be Aiysha Smith, who comes to the Tigers from Tyler JC in Tyler, Texas. The 6-3 forward was a Kodak All-American at the junior college level this past year and was named an alternate on the U.S. National Team.
She was chosen as one of the top 21 impact players for the upcoming season by www.womenscollegehoops.com last week.
Joining Smith in the post this year will be signees Tillie Willis of Atlanta, Ga., and Wendlyn Jones of Grosnell, Ark. Willis, who stands 6-3, and Jones, 6-1, should fill the void the Lady Tigers have felt in the post over the past three seasons.
Scholanda Dorrell and Florence Williams, both of Miami (Fla.) Edison High School, are the remaining freshmen in the class. Dorrell is listed as the No. 9 guard available according to the All Star Girls Report.
Her teammate, Williams, was rated the number seven forward in the All-Star Girls report after earning two All-State honors and a Nike All-American citation.
Another junior college product, Patty Hannon of Miami-Dade CC, fills out the class. Hannon averaged 18.1 points per game last season, which ranked seventh in the nation. She shot 42.3 percent from behind the three-point arc which was among the top 20 in the nation.
Despite being the fifth-ranked class in the nation, LSU came in just third among Southeastern Conference Schools. Tennessee held the top spot while Auburn came in at No. 3.
Top 25 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. N.C. State
24. Baylor
25. Southern Cal