Recruiting class helps team gain high ranking this season
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/13/2008
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The Purdue women's basketball team will bring in a top 15 recruiting class for the 2009-2010 season.
Coach Sharon Versyp and the Boilers will have three new additions to their team next season. The first player is guard Michaela "KK" Houser.
Houser, a 5-foot-7 guard from Lincoln, Neb., was ranked No. 65 in the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.
"I think when you meet (Houser), it's a no-brainer," Versyp said. "She just takes the basketball away. She can shoot the deep three. She can harass up and down the court for 40 minutes. It will be fun to watch her and FahKara next year."
The second recruit is Ashley Wilson. Wilson, a 6-foot forward from Wheeling, Ill., was ranked No. 40 by the All-Star Girls Report.
"She's just mentally and physically tough," Versyp said. "She's a banger down low. She wants to compete. She wants that competition of going against the best athletes."
The final recruit is Sam Ostarello, a 6-foot-2 forward from Fort Pierre, S.D. Ostarello was ranked the No. 15 national recruit by Hoopgurlz.
"She's just one of those kids that's an all-around player," Versyp said. "She can play the one through the four. She has great leaping ability which she has shown tremendously, especially this summer. People saw her dunk a basketball, so you can see that's she's very athletic."
This recruiting class is ranked No. 13 overall in the nation, but it has a chance to improve even more. The early signing period, which began Wednesday, will continue through Nov. 21.
The current players had a chance to get to know some of the recruits during summer camps at Purdue. Ostarello said getting to meet the team had a big impact on why she chose Purdue.
"It just felt like a fit right when I got to campus," Ostarello said. "You know, they definitely influenced the decision with the family atmosphere they present and just being such good role models."