May 2, 2002
Lexington, Ky. – Two junior college players have signed national letters of intent to play basketball for the Kentucky women’s basketball team, Coach Bernadette Mattox announced today. Racquel Ellis, a 5-8 point guard from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, and Samantha Newton, a 5-11 shooting guard from Wabash Junior College, will be juniors for the Wildcats next season.
Ellis, a native of Mason, Ohio, showed excellent ball handling and consistency at Cincinnati State where she averaged 12 points, four assists and three rebounds last season.
She transferred to Cincinnati State from East Tennessee State where she averaged 8.3 points and 3.2 assists per game as a freshman. She played in all 28 games with 16 starts and finished third on the team in scoring.
“Racquel is a pure point guard,” Mattox said. “She is very knowledgeable of the game and does a good job of making others around her better. We are very excited about her being a part of our program.”
Ellis led William Mason High School to a 28-0 record as a senior, winning the Ohio Division I state basketball championship. She averaged 10 points, five assists and two rebounds per game during her senior season in which she was named an Ohio all-star and her team lost just three games in her final three high school seasons. Ellis was a three-year letterwinner in basketball and lettered two years in track at William Mason.
Newton, a former Shelby County High School star, played one season at Wabash Junior College after one year at Dixie (Utah) State Junior College. She averaged 11 points, four rebounds and two assists per game, helping lead Wabash to a 28-6 record and an appearance in the junior-college Sweet 16, its first in school history.
Newton was one of Kentucky’s top high school players two years ago after being named second-team All-State by The Courier Journal.
“Samantha will bring us depth, quickness and three-point shooting,” Mattox said. “She’s got good size at 5-11 and we welcome her scoring ability and determination.”
Ellis and Newton join Jenny Pfeiffer and Jennifer Humphrey in the 2002 recruiting class.
