April 20, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s basketball team has signed two more outstanding prep players to national letters-of-intent, head coach Matthew Mitchell announced Monday. Jeniece Johnson, a 6-6 center from Washington D.C.’s Howard D. Woodson High School and teammate Bernisha Pinkett, a 5-7 guard, will be Wildcats next season.
“It’s always exciting to sign players of this caliber in the late signing period,” UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “They were two of the best unsigned seniors in the class and they both fill needs we had on our basketball team.”
Johnson is considered one of the best post players in the country, ranking as the No. 46 overall prospect and the 14th-best post player according to ESPN HoopGurlz. During her prep career, she helped H.D. Woodson win three D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) championships and back-to-back City Title games. She was twice named an all-city honoree and was a first-team All-Beltway member as a senior. She averaged 8.0 points per game as a junior and earned the Most Valuable Player award in the 2008 City Title game after charting 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in the victory over Bishop McNamara. As a senior, Johnson averaged a double-double with 15.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game and led H.D. Woodson to its second-straight DCIAA City Title.
“Jeniece is one of the tallest players in the 2009 class,” Mitchell said. “She has unbelievable hands and is very, very good at catching and finishing around the basket. She also is an outstanding passer as she knows what to do when she is double-teamed. She poses as a tremendous defensive presence and we are excited that she is coming to Kentucky.”
Pinkett, a four-year starter for Coach Frank Oliver, was named MVP of the DCIAA last season and was a first-team All-Beltway selection in 2009. As a senior she averaged a team-high 24.1 points per game in helping the Warriors to a 22-6 overall record. She scored over 1,600 points during her prep career and netted a career-high 42 and 45 points in a game last season. She also was instrumental in helping H.D. Woodson win back-to-back City Titles.
“Bernisha is an outstanding offensive player,” Mitchell said. “She has great ball-handling ability and a deep shooting range. We look for her to come in and help us immediately with her combination of athleticism and skill. We are very excited about her as she is a very good player.”
Both Johnson and Pinkett chose UK over N.C. State.
The duo joins four signees from the fall singing period in Anna Cole, a 6-6 center from Mondovi High School in Mondovi, Wisc., Brittany Henderson, a 6-2 forward of John Muir High School in St. Altadena, Calif., Adia Mathies (pronounced ODD-e-uh MATH-is), a 5-9 guard of Iroquois High School in Louisville, Ky., and Porsha Postell (pronounced POR-shah post-ELL), a 5-10 guard from Woodlands High School in White Plains, N.Y. Also eligible to play next season are three Division I transfers in Rebecca Gray (Georgetown, Ky.), a 5-10 guard and transfer from North Carolina, Crystal Riley (Arlington, Tenn.), a 5-5 point guard and transfer from LSU, and Keyla Snowden (Lexington, Ky.), a 5-7 guard and transfer from Akron.
