Sams ranks among the top 40 players in the country

GREENSBORO, N.C., November 27, 2006 – When North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs accepted the position at N.C. A&T, she said she wanted to bring a cultural of winning championships to the program.

She attempted to take another step toward that goal. Bibbs announced three players have singed their respective national letter of intent today, including 5-foot-11 forward Jaleesa Sams, who ranks as one of the top players in the country.

This winter, Sams will enter her fourth varsity season at New Castle High in New Castle, Pa. The other two players slated to play for the Aggies as freshman in 2007-2008 are 5-foot-9 combo guard Taryn Russ out of Handley High in Winchester, Va., and 6-foot-2 center Brittane Neeley out of Wakefield High in Arlington, Va.  

“We are excited about this class,’’ said Bibbs. “Some of the biggest schools from the major conferences in this country wanted to sign these players, but they decided to come to North Carolina A&T. It says a lot about our great university and the kind of program my coaches and I are trying to establish here.”

Scouts.com has Sams rated as the No. 32 player in the country. Sams said Boston College, Miami (Fla.), James Madison, Penn State, Michigan State and Xavier all showed interest. The Red Hurricanes are 71-15 during Sams’ career.

Entering her senior season at New Castle, Sams has career numbers of 1,333 points, 843 rebounds, 457 steals and 505 assists. Last season, Sams was named the Pittsburgh Tribune Review Player of the Year, the Lawrence County Female Athlete of the Year and for the second year in a row she was named the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Section 3-4A MVP.

As a junior Sams averaged 19.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.0 steals, 4.5 assists and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting 52 percent from the floor. She led the Red Hurricanes to the WPIAA championship as a freshman.

They advanced to the WPIAA semifinals last season, and were quarterfinalist in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament. For her efforts, the Associated Press named her to the PIAA first team, which also includes players from Pennsylvania private schools.

Russ will come to Aggieland with a few accolades of her own. Russ’ signing makes her the first girls basketball player at Handley to play at a Division I school. With 1,284 Russ is third on Handley’s all-time scoring list, leading the Judges to the Region II tournament each of the past two seasons. Last year, she averaged 20.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 4.9 assists.

Russ is a two-time District Player of the Year, a two-time first-team All-District selection, a two-time first-team All-Area and All-Region selection. The Associated Press named Russ a second-team All-State performer, while the Washington Post named her All-Metro Honorable Mention. Handley won a school-record 20 games under Russ’ leadership last season as she scored a school-record 566 points.

Neeley will try to provide the Aggies another post presence. Neeley averaged 15.0 points and 9.0 rebounds as a junior. She also averaged 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks while leading Wakefield to the Northern Region playoffs.