June 21, 2007|By Joe Williams, Sentinel Staff Writer
Pearl Johnson, the junior who helped lead Leesburg's girls basketball
team to a single-season school record for victories with 28 and a berth
in a Class 5A state semifinal, has committed orally to play basketball
at UAB.
Johnson, who made the commitment late Tuesday night,
becomes UAB's first player to commit out of the 2008 high school senior
class and is expected to sign with the Blazers in November.
With Johnson's commitment, which is non-binding until she signs, this
will be the third year in a row that at least one player from
Leesburg's girls basketball program has signed with a college. Two years
ago, Sharece Taft signed with Fayetteville College. This past year, the
team's two senior guards, Amber Bradley and A'shyia Haugabrook, signed
with Clearwater Christian College and Webber International University in
Babson Park, respectively.
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| UAB's Bartow Arena |
Along with Johnson, several other
seniors on the team, including forward/center Tenia Manuel, are expected
to receive offers from colleges this year.
"They really like her
vision and court awareness, and typically, they like the way she carries
herself on the floor," Leesburg Coach Mark Oates said about what the
Blazers' coaching staff has told him about Johnson. "They feel there are
a lot of leadership qualities in her."
Johnson, a 5-foot-6 guard,
showed those abilities during a 69-61 loss to Clearwater in a state
semifinal game. At times during the game, Johnson's play sparked
Leesburg and helped the Yellow Jackets stay close to the Tornadoes. She
led Leesburg with 22 points.
Johnson was the Orlando Sentinel's
girls basketball player of the year for Lake/Sumter, averaging 12.3
points, 4.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds a game. She also was chosen to the
Class 5A all-state first team, selected by the Florida Sports Writers
Association, and was a second-team member of the All-Central Florida
team by the Sentinel.
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| Bartow Arena |
UAB first saw Johnson when she played in the
Battle of the Bayou in Birmingham, Ala., an AAU basketball tournament,
the summer after her sophomore year at Leesburg. The Blazers watched her
again last year at the South Classic, an AAU tournament in North
Carolina, and have been following her progress.
Oates said Johnson
called him Tuesday night while she was returning from a basketball camp
for elite players in Miami seeking his advice because she had received
the offer from UAB.
"I told her to go home and talk to her mom and
to make a list of pros and cons about going to UAB," Oates said. "I
told her if the pros outweigh the cons, then she has her answer. She
called me back at about 11:20 last night [Tuesday] and told me she had
made up her mind."
Oates said her choice is a good one, and he knows she will be looked after with the Blazers.
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| UAB Womens Basketball Assistant Coach JoVanka Ward |
JoVanka
Ward, one of the team's assistant coaches, whose responsibilities
include recruiting, has been in close pursuit of Johnson for a while.
Oates also knows another of the program's assistant coaches, Daryl
Oliver, quite well. Oliver's father was the pastor at Red Hill
Missionary Baptist Church in Clinton, N.C., the church that Oates and
his family attended when he was younger.
"I really think UAB is an outstanding school academically," Oates said.
"From a basketball standpoint, I think it is a good fit for her. I know
the Olivers. I know the environment she will be around. The relationship
is there if I need to call him, or he needs to call me about Pearl.
There is that comfort level there. I think she will be in good hands."
Joe Williams
Sentinel Staff Writer
Orlando Sentinel
June 21, 2007
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