After signing five prospects each of the past two seasons, Tech women’s basketball coach Beth Dunkenberger and her staff scaled back significantly with the 2011 class, signing just one prospect during the early-signing period.
Larryqua Hall, a 5-foot-10 guard from Powder Springs, Ga., put her name on the line, and interestingly, she will become the fourth Georgia native on Tech’s roster.
“We are very excited to announce that Reka is joining the Hokie family,” Dunkenberger said in a statement released by the athletics communications office. “On the offensive end, she’s a slasher with an explosive first step that helps her get to the basket and finish. Reka is more than just an unbelievable athlete, and I think it’s her heart and the spirit that she plays with on defense that makes her truly special.”
Hall, who goes by the nickname “Reka,” averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds per game for Hillgrove High School as a junior, helping the team to a 22-8 record. Hillgrove finished second in its region and advanced to the state playoffs, finishing in the “Sweet 16.”
Hall, who received interest from Clemson, South Alabama, Tennessee Tech and Armstrong State, topped the 1,000-point plateau last season, becoming just the second player in school history to score more than 1,000 points. She earned first-team All-Region 7 AAAA honors and also was a second-team All-Cobb County selection by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
As a sophomore, she averaged 16.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. She earned All-Cobb County honors by the Marietta Daily Journal following that season.
She played in the post the past three seasons, starting as a sophomore and junior. But this season, her head coach, Sheryl Fowler, plans on moving her to small forward.
“We played her in the post the past three years because we haven’t had any height,” Fowler said. “We’ll play her at the 2 or 3 this season. She’s very athletic and quick to the basket. She rebounds the ball well.
“I think the thing she needs to work on is slowing down and coming under control. She tends to go full speed and gets herself into trouble sometimes.”
Hall’s signing will give the Hokies 12 scholarship players heading into the 2011 season – three below the NCAA limit. Tech graduates three seniors after this season (Nikki Davis, Elizabeth Basham and Brittany Gordon) and will have one senior next season (Shanel Harrison). Thus, Dunkenberger and her staff have some flexibility to add a player or two during the spring signing period.
