PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Shanay Washington at USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival
Already in the forefront of 2009 with an early commit from No. 2 Brittany Griner, Baylor continues to build an impressive class, most recently with a verbal pledge from Shanay Washington of Del Valle, Texas.
Washington chose Baylor over North Carolina, but also was widely recruited by Big 12 and SEC programs in spite of suffered an anterior-cruiciate ligament tear during an NCAA evaluation event in Atlanta last July.
A big, strong 6-foot-1 guard, Washington is ranked 57th overall in the HoopGurlz Super Sixty for 2009. She has been practicing, on a limited basis, with Del Valle High School, since Christmas, but has played sparingly so far this season.
Griner, a 6-7 forward out of Houston, and Jordan Madden, a 6-foot wing from Lepanto, Ark., who committed a week ago, proceed Washington as 2009 verbals for Baylor. Madden, ranked 30th in the 2009 class by HoopGurlz.com, averages 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds for East Poinsett County.
Washington averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore at Del Valle High School, which also produced Baylor's star senior point guard, Angela Tisdale. Washington is a two-time, first-team All-State choice in Texas and was one of only 11 2009 players to participate in last spring's USA Basketball Youth Development Festival.
Chris Hansen of HoopGurlz.com contributed to this report.
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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, Parade All-American Selection Committee, SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio [1]), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association, Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists and U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Glenn also founded and coached two select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com, a managing editor at Rivals.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 [1]. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com [2].
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