Subscribe to Full Court PressSims Named WBCA High School Player of the Year; WBCA High School All Americans Announced
Photo Caption: She’s All That! Odyssey Sims of MacArthur High School (Irving, Texas) has been named the Women Basketball Coaches’ Association’s High School Player of the Year. Sims is bound for Baylor, making her the second Baylor recruit to receive the coveted honor in the past two years. (Brittney Griner received the award in 2009.) Sims and 19 other top seniors from across the nation will play in the WBCA’s 19th Annual Girls’ All-America Game on April 3 in the Alamodome in conjunction with the WBCA’s annual convention and the NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four.
Photo Credit: Courtesy WBCA
By Lee Michaelson
Correspondent
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named Odyssey Sims of MacArthur High School’s (Irving, Texas) Odyssey Sims its 2010 State Farm/WBCA High School Player of the Year. The WBCA presents this award annually to the top player in each of the five WBCA collegiate divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA and JC/CC) and high school.
Sims is Full Court’s top ranked point guard in the country, as well as the overall Number 2 recruit nationally. HoopGurlz.com also ranks Sims as the No. 1 point guard in this year’s senior class. Full Court high school analyst Simmie Colson described Sims as “a great offensive threat” and “one of the best man-on-man defensive guards I have ever seen.” Scout.com and ESPN.com have also ranked Sims as the first and second recruit in the country, respectively.
As a junior, Sims averaged approximately 18.3 points, 7.2 assists and 5.8 steals per game. For the third season in a row, Sims was named District 7-5A MVP and first team all-district. She has earned Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state recognitions. A left-handed point guard, Sims is known for her speed, quickness and ability to play both ends of the floor.
Sims has signed with Baylor University, making this the second year in a row that a Baylor signee has earned the award, as Sims falls in the footsteps of Baylor’s Brittney Griner.
The WBCA also announced the 20 high school seniors selected to participate in its 19th annual WBCA High School All-America Game. The players chosen will be divided into two teams of 10 players and will play during the NCAA Women’s Final Four weekend at 5:30 p.m. Eastern (4:30 p.m. Central) CT on Saturday, April 3, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. (This year’s event will be the first to be played on the same court as the NCAA Women’s Final Four.)
Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women’s basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as a sport for women and girls.
Sims will be formally honored on Saturday, April 3, during the WBCA High School All-America Game.
“It is an honor for the WBCA to present Odyssey Sims with the 2010 State Farm/WBCA High School Player of the Year Award,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “We look forward to watching her shine at the collegiate level.”
“Odyssey’s remarkable achievements both on and off the court make her truly deserving of this prestigious award,” said Pam El, Marketing Vice President for State Farm, sponsors of the award. “State Farm is extremely proud and honored to recognize this tremendous student-athlete and we wish her the best in all her future endeavors.”
The WBCA also announced the 19 top seniors who, in addition to Sims, have been selected to play in the WBCA High School All-America Game. A committee of WBCA-member high school coaches who represent nine geographical districts from across the nation selected the All-America squad. The 2010 class of WBCA High School All-Americans joins the list of well-known past participants including Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Alana Beard, Maya Moore and Brittney Griner.
Below, in alphabetical order, are the top young players selected as this year’s All-American honorees:
| PLAYER | HIGH SCHOOL | HOMETOWN | COLLEGE SIGNED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauren Avant | Lausanne Collegiate School | Memphis, TN | Tennessee |
| Kristen Doherty | Sachem East High School | Holtsville, NY | Boston College |
| Ariel Edwards | Christ the King Regional H.S. | Elmont, NY | Penn State |
| Karla Gilbert | A&M Consolidated H.S. | College Station, TX | Texas A&M |
| Chelsea Gray | Saint Mary’s High School | Manteca, CA | Duke |
| Cassie Harberts | San Clemente High School | San Clemente, CA | USC |
| Bria Hartley | North Babylon High School | North Babylon, NY | Connecticut |
| Kaneisha Horn | Ramsay High School | Birmingham, AL | Alabama |
| Natasha Howard | Morrison R. Waite High School | Toledo, OH | Florida State |
| Richa Jackson | Midwest City High School | Midwest City, OK | Duke |
| Sara James | Oak Ridge High School | El Dorado Hills, CA | Stanford |
| Afure Jemerigbe | Saint Mary’s High School | Stockton, CA | California |
| Tiffany Moore | Frisco High School | Frisco, TX | Texas |
| Chiney Ogwumike | Cy-Fair High School | Cypress, TX | Stanford |
| Jennifer O’Neill | Saint Michael Academy | Bronx, NY | Kentucky |
| Shoni Schimmel | Franklin High School | Portland, OR | Undeclared |
| Lindsay Sherbert | Great Oak High School | Temecula, CA | California |
| Meighan Simmons | Byron P. Steele High School | Cibolo, TX | Tennessee |
| Odyssey Sims | Irving MacArthur High School | Irving, TX | Baylor |
| Samarie Walker | Chaminade-Julienne Catholic H.S. | West Carrollton, OH | Connecticut |
“Congratulations to the 20-member WBCA High School All-America Team,” said Gary Glasscock, Chair of the WBCA High School All-America Team Selection Committee. “They are among the best high school players in the USA and their hard work, commitment and dedication to this great game made it possible to reach this plateau. A special thanks to the selection committee who worked hard behind the scenes in fulfilling such as arduous task of selecting the nation’s top players. Good luck to all the girls in San Antonio, and also on their promising collegiate, and possibly professional careers.”
2010 marks the 19th year that the WBCA has sanctioned a girls’ high school All-America team. The inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game was held April 17, 1992 at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn. The game was played twice more in Jackson, before moving to Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1995, Philadelphia in 1996 and Nashville in 1997. The game was then held in Hartford, Conn. from 1998 until 2002. The game made its debut as part of the “WBCA Night of All-Stars” in 2003 and now stands on its own at the site of the WBCA National Convention, traditionally held at the same site as the NCAA Women’s Final Four, each year.
“Nike is honored to partner with the WBCA on this prestigious event,” said Jill Pizzotti, Women’s College and Girls Elite Youth Basketball Manager for Nike, who sponsors the event. “The WBCA High School All-America Game provides the elite players from across the country the opportunity to compete and showcase their talents during the highlight of the women’s basketball season - the NCAA Women’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas! Nike recognizes the importance of providing opportunities for girls in sport. These 20 selected all-Americans are the future of women’s basketball.”
The following 20 players received Honorable Mention for the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game:
| PLAYER | HIGH SCHOOL | HOMETOWN | COLLEGE SIGNED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stefanie Dolson | Minisink Valley High School | Slate Hill, NY | Connecticut |
| Jennifer Hamson | Pleasant Grove High School | Pleasant Grove, UT | Brigham Young |
| Jazmin Hitchens | Incarnate Word Academy | St. Louis, MO | Ball State |
| Jordan Hooper | Alliance High School | Alliance, NE | Nebraska |
| Christina Jacobson | Max Public K-12 | Max, ND | Undeclared |
| Jacqueline Jeffcoat | Plano West High School | Dallas, TX | Oklahoma |
| Jeanne Kenney | Saint Michael The Archangel HS | Baton Rouge, LA | LSU |
| Tyaunna Marshall | Elizabeth Seton | Upper Marlboro, MD | Georgia Tech |
| Dawnn Maye | Dillard High School | Laudergill, FL | Georgia Tech |
| Kayla McBride | Villa Maria Academy | Erie, PA | Notre Dame |
| Valencia McFarland | Raymond High School | Edward, MS | Mississippi |
| Suriya McGuire | Roosevelt High School | Minneapolis, MN | Miami |
| Vicky McIntyre | Omaha Marian High School | Omaha, NE | Undeclared |
| Khaalidah Miller | Douglass High School | Mableton, GA | Georgia |
| Haley Peters | The Peddie School | Shrewsbury, NJ | Duke |
| Theresa Plaisance | Vanderbilt Catholic High School | Terrebonne Parish, LA | LSU |
| Ronika Ransford | Howard D. Woodson HS | Washington, DC | Georgia |
| Alyssa Thomas | Central Dauphin High School | Harrisburg, PA | Maryland |
| Carli Tritz | Bishop Heelan High School | Sioux City, IA | Creighton |
| Madison Williams | Detroit Country Day School | Beverly Hills, MI | Michigan State |
Tickets to the WBCA All-America Game are free for the public and tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT, on Saturday, April 3, 2010, in the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, Tickets for seating in a reserved section are available for purchase at www.wbca.org.
Originally published Tue, February 09, 2010
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