Shine, from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pa., is ranked No. 80 in the country according to HoopGurlz.com. She initially was set to visit all five of the schools on final list after parting ways with Boston College, who is yet to offer, as a potential choice but she has changed that plan. Shine will be on both Virginia and Virgina Tech's campus this coming weekend for unofficial visits and is scheduled for official visits front runner Virgina on Sept. 8, and Virginia Tech on Sept. 15. She expects to make a decision soon and make a verbal commitment.

"Virginia I have been interested in for a while," Shine said. "They've been at all my games, more so this year and Florida and Virginia Tech came in a little bit later."

Chelsea Shine

One team that had been in from the beginning was Villanova whose offer had been out there dating back to the first of the year but in the highly competitive world of recruiting some teams can't hang out there forever. Shine informed the coaches she was not ready to commit as of July 1 and was told they couldn't hang on any longer as they needed to fill that position. Shine understood and moved forward, sticking to her guns that she would stay completely open until the end of the viewing period.

"Miami offered right before (AAU) Nationals," Shine added. "I flew down a day early, separate from the team and went to visit Miami then drove to Orlando and they offered then."

Shine visited DePaul before the end of her junior year on a trip with her mom and recieved her offer then but was not able to visit Florida State. She likes being in the action so to speak. She wants a bigger campus and is enamored with the Virginia campus and its athletic facilities.

Shine's skill set fits well with either program in the ACC. She has great mobility and athleticism for a player her size. She projects as a forwards at the 'four' spot and pehaps with improved ball handling she can play some wing as well. She has the ability to step out and knock down jumpers to about the three point stripe and has a solid repetiore with her back to the basket. Her abilities have earned her honors as an Amateur Athletic Union All American in back to back years.

Shine's journey on the club circuit has really aided her understanding of the game and brought her full circle as a basketball player. In the Philly area the consensus No. 1 player in the 2008 class, Elena DelleDonne has been the player everyone talked about for many years. Shine started out as after her sophomore year playing for the Philly Comets and looking up to DelleDonne. "I used to wonder what it would be like to play with her," Shine said. Little did she know just one year later she would be her teammate for the club team Fencor. That team was home to two eventual Connecticut commits in DelleDonne as well as Caroline Doty, the No. 10 ranked player in the country. She would finish her club career up this summer playing for the Philly Belles, considered to be one of the top travel in the country. This team was with Doty but without DelleDonne and she felt those experiences helped her greatly. When she played this summer she felt the outcome of the games was more evenly on her shoulders as they didn't have DelleDonne to rely on and that will ultimately prepare her for her responsibilities as a college player.

RIM SHOTS

Destini Hughes

Destini Hughes, ranked 17th overall in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com, has set her five official visits. The point guard from Fort Worth, Texas, will visit Florida on Sept. 15, LSU on Sept. 22, Texas A&M on Oct. 6, Baylor on OCt. 20 and Texas on Oct. 26. Florida is a newcomer to Hughes' list. She'd previously been considering Kansas State. Hughes is the No. 2 point guard in the 2008 class, according to HoopGurlz. ... Erinn Thompson, one of the top centers is the 2009 class, has a school list of Boston College, Florida, Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, Virginia and Virginia Tech. VirginiaTech has offered the 6-foot-3 Thompson, who is from Winston-Salem, N.C. ... Missy Downey, a 5-7 guard out of Cardinal O'Hara in Springfield, Pa., has committed to Lafayette. She is the fifth player from the Philadelphia-area Comets to verbal. The others are Becky Burke (South Carolina), Michele Baker (St. Joseph's), Katie Kuester (St. Joseph's) and Meg Pearson (Villanova). ... Kylee Beecher, the 6-4 post out of Roanoke, Va., who is ranked 84th in 2008 by HoopGurlz, has committed to Libery University. She previously had committed to South Carolina. Two of her club teammates from the Roanoke Stars also have verbaled. Abby Oliver committed to the University of Richmond and Lindsey Thompson pledged to UNC-Asheville.

- Glenn Nelson

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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.

Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn 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 also 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. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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