YSU and Oakland are among five Division I schools that have offered 5-9 Laken James of Oconto (WI).
She is holding out for a UWGB offer, but does not have one yet and UWGB already has three commits. Very familar with Coach Barnes.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130717/GPG020503/307170432/Girls-basketball-Stock-rising-Oconto-standout-Laken-James?nclick_check=1The ball is in Laken James’ court.
She’s just surveying her options before deciding where to take her basketball talents.
The Oconto senior-to-be has received five NCAA Division I scholarship offers to go along with with two from DII programs in the past month.
The 5-foot-9 standout saw her stock rise when she helped her AAU team, the Wisconsin U17 Blizzard, reach the 16-team championshipbracket out of 108 squads at the U.S. Junior National Premiere Invite from July 5-8 in Cincinnati.
There were 135 DI coaches at the tournament and Oconto coach Russ Young wasn’t surprised by inquiries he has received since.
“No one put an offer on the table before to lock this kid up and now she’s in the driver’s seat with what is out there,” Young said.
“She plays with a chip on her shoulder because she is the best kid people haven’t heard of. That’s not meant in a derogatory way. She plays in Northeastern Wisconsin and 35 miles north of Green Bay. There is nobody up here.”
Two of the DI programs that have extended offers to James are Horizon League schools with first-year head coaches, Oakland University (Mich.) and Youngstown State, who hired former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay assistant John Barnes in April.
James, who earned all-state honors for Division 4 by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and surpassed 1,000 career points last season, has made visits to both campuses.
“She felt really comfortable at Youngstown State and knows coach Barnes through the camps she went to at UWGB,” Young said.
Still, James is hopeful she’ll also receive a scholarship offer from UWGB coach Kevin Borseth, who has received verbal commitments from three in-state players in the Class of 2014, including Superior’s Jessica Lindstrom, Black Hawk’s Jen Wellnitz and Green Bay Notre Dame’s Allie LeClaire.
“Obviously, because they’re so good and so close that was the dream growing up,” James said. “But now, with more offers coming across, it’s setting more options out there. But I feel like (UWGB) is still the ultimate goal.
“I’ve been in contact with them and I feel the door is not shut. But if it does, I have a future ahead of me, and whatever happens, it’s happening for a reason.”
James was a key reason why Oconto went 21-5 and advanced to the WIAA sectional finals last season for the first time since 1980, averaging 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game to earn first team all-Packerland Conference accolades for a third time.
All five of the Blue Devils’ losses came against Packerland co-champions, Kewaunee and Algoma, who went on to win the D3 and D4 state titles, respectively.
Borseth was in attendance during a 55-32 loss at Algoma in January when James went 3-for-13 from the field in tallying 13 points.
“She hadn’t been exposed to that environment as often as some other kids have, so I think it affected her game that night,” Young said. “Internally, I think she put pressure on herself.”
James, who has also been a first-team all-conference player in volleyball and softball, has learned how to handle that pressure this summer.
After helping the Blizzard win the Miss Dakota Showcase tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the end of June, James made the all-tournament team for her pool USJN Invite in Cincinnati, where her team fell in the championship bracket to a team from Kansas that featured six D1 recruits.
James’ AAU schedule wraps up with a tournament in Las Vegas at the end of the month and is looking forward to her senior year.
“I’m excited for this year with mostly all the girls being upperclassmen,” James said. “We’ve gone through the program being a younger team, but now we’re going to be juniors and seniors and it’s going to be our year hopefully.”
