A Peek at Boo

Nneka Ogwumike of Cy-Fair Shock is one of the many new faces and old faces in new places at the Boo Williams Invitational in Hampton, Va.

Just a week after the guys convened in Hampton, Va., the girls get their turn. The story of the Nike Boo Williams Invitational is the opportunity for someone new to make themselves the star of the 2008 class the way Maya Moore, Cetera DeGraffenreid and others did last year.

On the Nike sponsored circuit there are a lot of exciting changes and most of these teams will be in the top bracket at Boo, sizing each other up for matchups this summer. Last year, Boo’s host team wore down the Fairfax Stars and Tennessee Flight in route to winning the Gold Division Championship.

Brooklyn Pope

So what’s new? We reported earlier this year about the dissolving of Fencor’s top team which has Caroline Doty now playing for the Philly Belles and Elena DelleDonne playing for the Philly Comets. Both are expected at Boo (the schedule will be out Wednesday). There are two additions from Texas this year with the addition of DWF Elite and Brooklyn Pope as well as Nneka Ogumike and the Cy-Fair Shock 90 squad. Other new names from Texas will come courtesy of the Texas Blazers with Amada Reece, Kristina Koonce and Toluwam Onotola trying to make names for themselves and their team on the national level.

And then there’s the Georgia Metros, which has produced some of the biggest names in the country, especially the last two years with Maya Moore, Kelley Cain and Ashley Houts. Returning 2008 prospects Taylor Dalrymple, Alicia Manning, Charnee Stephens and Taylor Turnbow look to show that the program is still strong despite the graduation of Cain and Moore. They also return two Morgans - Toles, who was the starting point guard he last two years at St. Pius X, and Jennings, who at 5 feet 9 is the defending state 5A high jump champ who blocked a shot last year at BWI by pinning it on the backboard. Here are the two kids from the “you don’t know me yet but should” list - Monique Willis and Kahaalidah Miller.

The Tennesse Flight has some new faces that have already made their college choices in Candace Wood (North Carolina Verbal, 2008) and Lauren Avant (Tennessee Verbal, 2010). They also have the Edwards twins (Britny and Whitney) from Providence Day and return Natalie Novosel, who turned heads with her ability to get to the cup last year, and Michelle Davis, whose defense on Cain in the Nike Nationals championship game was as impressive as any last year. LaSondra Barrett is another new face to follow.

Tierra Rogers

The West Coast Elite has imported a new member of its already formidable front court in Tierra Rogers of Sacred Heart in San Francisco. Rogers nearly single handedly knocked WCE out of the End of the Trail this past summer playing for a team from San Jose made up of mostly Archbishop Mitty High School players. The team returns an impressive front court with Kelsey Bone, arguably the top player in 2009, along with two other towers in Las Vegas’s Ashley Gayle and Monique Oliver. Another top Vegas kid to keep an eye on is Chelsea Hopkins, who has the daunting task of replacing Italee Lucas as the top guard on the squad.

The host team, Boo Williams Summer League, has a history of top-notch players. North Carolina commit She’la White returns and will join perhaps the most interesting player to watch for BWSL, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, whose defense and do everything game often got overshadowed by the flash offense of the team’s other guards last year. Lynetta Kizer, one of the nation’s top posts, also returns. Will they match up with their in-state rivals, Fairfax, which loses Jasmine Thomas but return their top post in Chay Shegog?

All-Ohio brings its squad back without Jantel Lavendar (Ohio State signee) but still has one of the nation's top post players in Ayana Dunning ("Ya-Ya") and has a new look in the backcourt. Briana Green from Lexington Catholic will run the point and the sleeper on this team, Tyesha Moss, the 5-9 guard who her coach claims "can do it all" and likens to Paul Pierce of the NBA's Boston Celtics.

The power-packed matchups are endless and speculation is just a day away when the schedule is released. These are just a few of the names and teams expected in the top bracket but what is for sure is that there will be new faces to the tournament and returning faces in new places await at the 2007 Boo Williams Invitational.

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