Maybe it was a sign of things to come but Ta'Shia Phillips, the top unsigned prospect in the 2007 class, is sitting better now than many recruits who were affected by the coaching changes, many of which happened after the prospects signed their National Letters of Intent. One such player, Antionette Howard, the standout wing from South Gwinnett High School in Snellville, Ga., is being released from her letter of intent to play at the University of Florida, according to her father, Delano Howard.

Howard is seeking the release due to Carolyn Peck’s departure. “We really felt Coach Peck would be a great mentor for (Antio)nette,” her father said.

New Gator coach Amanda Butler, who came over from UNC-Charlotte, made every effort to keep Howard, but her father said the presence of Coach Peck was such a huge factor that Florida is no longer being considered. Butler did try to recruit Howard while she was at Charlotte; however, going to Charlotte was never of high interest to Howard. Her father had nothing but positive things to say about Butler and Florida, but given the level of interest from numerous top programs before her commitment they feel the best option for Howard, whose nickname is “Nette”, is to reopen her recruiting.

Howard had well over 30 Division I scholarship offers at the time she committed to Florida and among those programs recruiting her were many big names, including Georgia, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Rutgers and Tennessee.

Howard is a very skilled wing player who has great size and mobility. She is quicker than most forwards and stronger and bigger than most guards. And before you jump to conclusions that she is a ‘tweener, I would argue she has more of a pro build for a guard or wing.

Ty McBride, Howard's club coach, has high praise for Nette and is awaiting calls from those interested in recruiting her for their open spots.


“In the right college system she could be come a major scorer and an immediate impact,” McBride said. “I believe that Nette is a program changing caliber person. She can play positions 1-4 and as a guard she is too strong for most other guards to guard her.” He also describes her as a Sheryl Swoopes style player with an extra 15 pounds.


As is the case with most of the top players, much of their skills were honed playing pick up ball and playing against boys and Howard’s story in fact takes it to the next level having played against NBA players. It was against these players that she became such a stand out offensive player in one-on-one situations. She is a natural scorer.


“She is a great defender which comes from playing with boys. You have to be so much quicker in order to react and the stay in the game with boys,” McBride said. “Nette has a long history of playtime with her brother, cousin(Juan Howard) and players that are now in the NBA and impact DI players.”

Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women's Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz.. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com.