The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Ink Three In-State Standouts For Next Season
4/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 21, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB women's basketball head coach Audra Smith has added three standouts from the state of Alabama to the 2009-10 roster. Amber Jones, LaKenya Lowe and Nakia McDaniel have all signed National Letters of Intent to suit up for the Green and Gold, with Jones and Lowe earning Alabama Player of the Year honors in their respective classes this past season.
The three signees join early signees Jasmine Green, Jala Harris and Khalilah Watson to make up next season's freshman class.
Smith has now signed three Alabama Players of the Year for next year with Harris earning the honor the 6A level, Lowe picking up the accolade in Class 4A and Jones receiving the award for Class 1A. In addition, Harris was also tabbed as the state's Miss Basketball.
"We are extremely excited about this signing class," said Smith. "We feel like we have recruited some of the top players in the state and that they will be able to come in and make an immediate impact for us.
"All of our signees have come from winning programs and most of them have won state championships with their high schools. These are players that know how to win and I believe they will continue that trend at UAB."
Jones will come to UAB from Hazelwood High School in Town Creek, Ala., where she is scheduled to be a valedictorian of her graduating class. The 5-7 guard played her prep career for head coach Nicholas Vinson and the Golden Bears, capping it off by leading her team to the 2009 Alabama Class 1A State Championship, where she was named the MVP of the tournament after recording 25 points and 10 rebounds in the state title game.
As a senior, Jones averaged 24 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and three blocks per game on her way to being named the Class 1A Player of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA). She is a two-time all-state honoree by the ASWA, picking up first-team honors as a sophomore in 2007 and as a senior in 2009. During her career, she amassed more than 3,500 points at Hazelwood.
Jones continued to rack up honors after the season concluded, including being listed as the fourth best player in the state on Birmingham News' Super Seniors list and garnering a spot on the ASWA Super Five. She was also selected as one of the 12 players to compete in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
Lowe is a local product from Birmingham, playing for head coach Reggie Ware at Midfield High School. She has led the Patriots to three straight Class 4A state titles, including the 2009 state championship, where she was honored as MVP of the tournament.
During her senior campaign, Lowe put together a stellar resume that earned her first-team all-state honors from the ASWA, as well as Class 4A Player of the Year. After averaging 16.1 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 4.5 spg and 1.9 apg in her final season with the Patriots, she was also named the Birmingham News' Metro Player of the Year, as well as being honored as one of Birmingham News' Super Seniors. In addition, Lowe also joined Jones as a member of the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic roster.
In addition to excelling on the court, Lowe is also a standout in the classroom and is slated to be a valedictorian of the 2009 graduating class at Midfield.
McDaniel comes from Lawrence County High School in Moulton, Ala., where she played for head coach Kenny Coffey. An ASWA Class 4A first-team all-state honoree, she helped her team to the second round of the 2009 Class 4A state playoffs. She scored 15 points in the second-round loss to Deshler.
McDaniel hails from the same high school as former UAB great Natasha Thomas, who played for the Blazers from 2001-04 and scored 1,712 points to rank fifth on the school scoring charts.
