Women’s Basketball Signs Impressive Early-Signee Class

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Women’s Basketball Signs Impressive Early-Signee Class

Joni Taylor on her scooter
Joni Taylor on her scooter

 
 
The Georgia women’s basketball recruiting class currently holds down the No. 10 spot in the national recruiting rankings according to ESPN’s Hoopgurlz. The 2017 early-signees consists of four players, including two five-stars and two four-stars.
 
 

The Basics of Women’s Basketball Recruiting:

Recruiting for the 2017 class started around August 1, 2016, according to the NCAA website and will end on July 31, 2017. Like football, there are quiet periods, dead periods, Contact periods and evaluation periods. There is also an early signing period which ran from Nov. 9-16.
 
 

Georgia’s Current Class:

The four early signees are Quannecia Morrison, Gabrielle Connally, Malury Bates, and Maya Caldwell. Each player is in the top- 15 of her position nationally and each is an ESPN top-100 prospects.
 
 

Maya Caldwell

Maya Caldwell is a four-star guard who ranks No. 76 overall. She is also the 15th-ranked wing prospect according to ESPN Hoopgirlz. Caldwell is from North Carolina, goes to Davidson Day School. She is 6-foot-1 and was a 2016 USA Today First-Team All-North Carolina selection.
 
 

Malury Bates

Malury Bates is a four-star forward from Roanoke, Virginia. She’s ranked No. 68 overall and the No. 8 post player in the country, according to ESPN’s Hoopgirlz. Bates stands at 6-foot-3 and attends William Fleming High School. The center was a Virginia High School Coaches Association 4A First-Team selection. She also helped her team this past season to the 4A Girls Finals.
 
 

Gabby Connally

Gabby Connally is a five-star point guard from San Antonio, Texas. According to ESPN’s Hoopgirlz, Connally ranked as the No. 8 point guard nationally and the No. 46 overall player. ProspectsNation.com ranked Connally the No. 23rd overall. She attends Brandeis High School and is one of the most sought after recruits in the 2017 class.
 
 

Quannecia Morrison

Quannecia Morrison is a 5-star guard from Powder Springs, GA where she goes to McEachern High School. ESPN’s Hoopgirlz ranked as the No. 4 player in the state of Georgia. Morrison ranked as the No. 31 overall player, and is the No. 7 guard. This past season Morrison helped lead McEachern High School to a state championship.
 
 

Joni on Recruiting and Keeping Girls Home:

 

Coach Joni Taylor gives instructions to Mackenzie Engram
Coach Joni Taylor gives instructions to Mackenzie Engram

 
 
After defeating LSU on Sunday, Feb. 19, head coach Joni Taylor made a comment about what it meant for two of her players from Georgia, Caliya Robinson and Pachis Roberts, putting up 48 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 70 points. She wanted to let the media know how important it was to keep those Georgia girls home.
 
 

“Well we want the best players in Georgia to stay home, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t,” Taylor said. “You know we have everything here they need from a facility standpoint, from resources, our administration is great. We’re a great academic institution, and we’re a family first program. We’re people first program, and so I think what it shows is that you can come here and you can have it all. I think its really good for them to represent their state and their university that way and play that well.”

 
 
Coach Taylor made it known that Georiga has something to offer. By signing four top-100 players, Taylor made a statement. She’s selling Georgia women’s basketball and showing the country how Georgia will compete in getting the best prospects out there.
 
 
Here is the audio of the question after the LSU game:
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Savannah Leigh is a recent graduate of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She is an avid SEC, Dawgs, and college football fan. She also adores her four-year-old black lab, Champ Bailey.