High-Ranked Forwards Commit

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Fri, 10/19/2007 - 02:00 Dayton and DePaul lay claim to two of the nation's most talented and versatile forward prospects in 2008.

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Two of the country's most talented and versatile forwards have made their college choices.

Justine Raterman, of Versailles, Ohio, ranked No. 35 overall in the HoopGurlz Hundred for the 2008 class, has verballed to Dayton. Raterman is the highest ranked prospect in the class to commit to a mid-major program.

Meanwhile, Keisha Hampton, of Philadelphia, Penn., No. 60 in the HoopGurlz Hundred, has committed to DePaul.

Raterman, who plays for her sister, Jacki Stonebrake, at Versailles High School, is 6 feet 1 and solidly built. She has very solid fundamentals, the most striking of which is footwork, both down on the boxes and out on the perimeter, including use of screens. That footwork makes her an effective scorer in the post, but she also can take bigger players outside and torch them with jumpers as well as handle the ball and manuever her way back inside; she should be a player opposing Atlantic-10 opponents will have to account for.

The No. 10 forward in the class, Raterman also had been considering Bowling Green, Florida State, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan State and Vanderbilt.

At 6-2, Hampton likewise is a multi-skilled forward, one of three extremely athletic wing types with the New York Gauchos this past summer. Of the three, that included Pitt commit Markel Walker, a 2009 prospect, and highly regarded Da'Shena Stevens from the 2008 class, Hampton had the most reliable periemter shot, getting good lift and range out of a strong pair of legs. Hampton is an inside threat mostly off the dribble, though she can be a force on the glass and, defensively, as a shot-blocker.

Hampton opted for DePaul and coach Doug Bruno, who led the USA to gold at last summer's U18 World Championships, over Florida and St. John's.

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Glenn Nelson is the founder and publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He is a member of the McDonald's All-American Selection Committee and SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association and Online News Association. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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