The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Basketball signees earn WBCA High School All-America honors
03.10.2016 | Women's Basketball
Joyner Holmes named WBCA All-American.
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Texas women's basketball signee Joyner Holmes (Cedar Hill, Texas) was named to the 2016 Women's Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Team on Thursday, while fellow signees Alecia Sutton (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jada Underwood (Mesquite, Texas) were honorable mention selections.
This is the second All-America honor this week for Holmes, who also was named a Naismith Trophy First-Team All-American. Sutton was named a second-team Naismith Trophy All-American. Both Holmes and Sutton will compete in the McDonald's High School All-America Game on March 30 in Chicago.
The nation's No. 1 recruit according to the Blue Star Report and the No. 2 prospect in the espnW Hoop Gurlz Top 100, Holmes is a versatile wing player who averaged 15.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 3.0 apg as a junior at Cedar Hill High School. She earned first-team all-district accolades, and was named to the all-region and all-state first teams. Holmes was a MaxPreps third-team All-American her junior year. She was a member of Team USA's U17 gold-medal winning U17 world championship team, averaging 10.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg and earning all-tournament accolades. Holmes' athleticism is matched only by her versatility, evidenced by her skill both as a ball-handler and in the post. In addition to her basketball prowess, Holmes also was a standout for her high school track and field team, running the 100-meter dash and participating in both the long and triple jumps.
The nation's No. 6 prospect according to the espnW Hoop Gurlz Top 100, Sutton is a true point guard, who is ranked second nationally at her position. She averaged 16.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.3 spg as a junior at Parkway North, leading her team to a 25-6 overall record. Her team finished third in the program's first-ever Class 5 state tournament appearance. As a sophomore, she averaged 18.3 ppg and 4.81 apg. Sutton is known for her skills as a floor-leader in an up-tempo offense. In the summer of 2014, while playing for the Missouri Phenom, she was named the Most Valuable Player of the Super 64 Tournament in Frisco, Texas, and the adidas Nationals in Atlanta, after leading her team to championships in both tournaments.
The 18th-ranked wing player in the nation according to ESPN.com, Underwood averaged 24.3 ppg and 13.2 rpg through 11 games in her junior season before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. She led all players in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in points per game and rebounds per game, despite playing in only 11 games. As a sophomore, she was named the 12-5A co-most valuable player and the district's most valuable player after averaging 17.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg and 5.1 apg in 2013-14. That year, Underwood also was a TABC All-Region selection. She was the District Newcomer of the Year as a rookie at Horn, averaging 9.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.0 apg and 2.7 spg. Underwood's versatility is constantly on display, as she is as comfortable playing on the wing as she is in the post.
2016 WBCA High School All-America Team
Erin Boley (Hodgenville, Ky.) – Notre Dame
Kaila Charles (Glendale, Md.) – Maryland
Natalie Chou (Plano, Texas) – Baylor
Lauren Cox (Flower Mound, Texas) – Baylor
Crystal Dangerfield (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) – UConn
Joyner Holmes (Cedar Hill, Texas) – Texas
Sabrina Ionescu (Walnut Creek, Calif.) – Undeclared
Tori McCoy (Champaign, Ill.) – Ohio State
Leaonna Odom (Los Alamitos, Calif.) – Duke
Destiny Slocum (Meridian, Idaho) – Maryland
2016 WBCA High School Honorable Mention All-America
Mi'Cole Cayton (Stockton, Calif.) – Nebraska
Nicole Ekhomu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) – Florida State
Nadia Fingall (Navarre, Fla.) – Stanford
A'Tyanna Gaulden (Americus, Ga.) – Florida State
Ae'Rianna Harris (Indianapolis, Ind.) – Purdue
Valerie Higgins (Granada Hills, Calif.) – USC
Ciera Johnson (Duncanville, Texas) – Louisville
Kiara Lewis (Chicago, Ill.) – Ohio State
Nancy Mulkey (Cypress, Texas) – Oklahoma
Mikayla Pivec (Lynnwood, Wash.) – Oregon State
Amber Ramirez (San Antonio, Texas) – TCU
Ally Rosenblum (Newport Coast, Calif.) – UCLA
Kylee Shook (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Louisville
Jenna Staiti (Cumming, Ga.) – Maryland
Alecia Sutton (St. Louis, Mo.) – Texas
Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) – Virginia
Jada Underwood (Mesquite, Texas) – Texas
Jasmine Walker (Montgomery, Ala.) – Florida State
Blair Watson (Nutley, N.J.) – Maryland
Jackie Young (Princeton, Ind.) – Notre Dame