By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
RUSTON, La. -- Last November, during the early signing period, Palestine-Wheatley standout basketball player Erica Smith signed a letter-of-intent with Louisiana Tech, becoming Leon Barmore's first signed, sealed and delivered recruit of the 2001 class.
Tuesday, Louisiana Tech completed its 2001 recruiting class Tuesday by signing junior college All-America guard Danelle Ladd to a national letter of intent.
The 5-foot-7-inch point guard joins the Lady Techster program after starring at Connors State Junior College in Warner, Okla., last season and Grayson County College in Denison, Texas, the previous year.
"Danelle has the ability to play either the one or the two-guard," said Tech's Barmore. "She is a young lady who is ranked as the top junior college point guard in the country and for good reason. Her athleticism gives her the ability to shoot the three-pointer as well as create off the dribble."
Ladd, who signed with the University of Oklahoma after a stellar prep career at Midwest City (Okla.) High School, is rated as the No. 1 junior college point guard in the country by Michael White's All-Star Girls Report.
The Oklahoma City, Okla., native averaged 15.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season while leading the Cowgirls to an 18-15 record and the Junior College Athletic Association (JCAA) Region II finals. Ladd hit 65 three-pointers during the season while connecting on 69 percent of her free throws.
Ladd earned JCAA third team All-American honors as well as first team Bi-State Conference honors and All-Region II accolades at Connors State.
"I have watched Danelle play for years, and really like her style," said Tech assistant coach Stacy Johnson, who was instrumental in Ladd's signing with the Lady Techsters. "She is a winner. She has tremendous speed and quickness, and will really help this team for the next two years."
Along with Smith, Ladd joins guard Kenzi Bond from Canton (Okla.) High School as the 2001 Lady Techster recruiting class.
"I'm excited about this class," Barmore said. "Our needs were on the perimeter, and we answered those needs. It puts us in the position to be solid across the floor next year with tremendous depth at each position."
Tech returns all five starters from last year's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight team that finished the season at 31-5 and ranked No. 6 in the country.
Louisiana Tech has played in 20 straight NCAA Tournaments, advanced to 13 Final Fours, competed in eight national championship games and won three national titles.
Smith was most recently named Ms. Basketball, making her the best female high school basketball player in Arkansas.
The 5-10 forward helped lead the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots to the Class AA state championship in March by averaging close to 30 points a game during the regular season.
Smith, who had been recruited by several colleges, narrowed her final two choices down to Arkansas and Louisiana Tech.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
There's a little bit of everything going on today in prep sports throughout the area.
The Forrest City Lady Mustangs will host Little Rock McClellan today at 4 p.m., at the Sports Complex for a final regular season softball game.
The Lady Mustangs will open play Saturday in the Region 4 Tournament at Pine Bluff's Region Park. They will play Little Rock Central at 11:30 a.m.
A win over Central will bring Forrest City back at 1 p.m. for a semifinal game against the LR McClellan-West Helena winner.
The top two teams from the regional tournament will advance to the Class AA-AAAAA state tournament, which begins May 5.
The Forrest City senior boys' and girls' track teams will compete today at the AAAAA-East Conference Meet at West Memphis High School.
The Palestine-Wheatley junior and senior high teams will compete today at the 6AA District Meet to be held at Wynne's Yellowjacket Stadium.
The Class AAAAA state tennis championships will begin today in Little Rock at Rebsamen Courts.
Forrest City's Seccar Cole and Brittney White will be involved in doubles competition.
And last, but certainly not least, the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots softball team will open play tonight at the 6AA District Tournament at Hazen.
The Lady Patriots are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. against either Elaine or Carlisle.
The top four teams will advance to the Region 3 Tournament, which begins Saturday, April 28 at Pocahontas.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
In just five days.
That's when the Forrest City Recreation Department's youth softball and baseball program will throw out the first pitches signaling the start of the 2001 season.
The fun begins on Tuesday, May 1, at the Sports Complex.
The boys' youth baseball league features five different age leagues -- T-Ball, Minor, Bambino (9-10), Bambino (11) and Junior Babe Ruth.
The girls' youth softball program has three different leagues -- 10-under, 12-under and 16-under.
There are also adult softball leagues for both the men and women. The adult leagues will start play on Monday, May 14
Girls' softball will play on Tuesday and Friday nights as will the T-Ball league.
The Minor League, which uses the pitching machine, will play their season schedule of games each night of the week except Wednesday.
The 9-10 Bambino League will see action on Monday and Thursday nights while the Bambino 11-year-old league will play on Tuesday and Friday nights.
Junior Babe Ruth will play their games on Monday and Thursday nights.