GWU Women's Basketball Inks Four for 2011
November 16, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball staff along with the athletics department are pleased to announce the signing of Jessica Heilig, Mayhana Dunovant, Chaylia Coleman and La Kiah Smith to National Letters of Intent to continue both their academic and athletic careers at Gardner-Webb University.
Heilig comes to Gardner-Webb from Salisbury High School in Salisbury, N.C., where she burst onto the basketball scene two years ago as a sophomore. The 6-0 forward with unusual athleticism averaged 8.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last year as a junior on a team with four Division I signees. Heilig, which has helped to guide her Salisbury Hornets to 35 straight wins entering this season as well as back-to-back state championships over the last two years, is dominant at times with both her rebound and shot blocking abilities.
Heilig, who also plays on the Carolina Elite AAU team, is ranked No. 32 overall at the wing position in the 2011 class by ESPN and No. 24 overall in the Top-25 of 2011 for North Carolina and South Carolina by the Queen City Hoops Report.
Dunovant will remain a Bulldog, as the 5-5 guard will join GWU from nearby Butler High School in Charlotte, N.C. Last season, the 5-5 point guard averaged 8.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game at as a junior. Dunovant, who was named as one of the Top-10 North Carolina sophomore high school players by the Charlotte Observer during her sophomore season, helped to lead her Butler Bulldogs team to a 26-4 overall record last year en route to becoming the 2010 4A North Carolina High School State Champions.
Also from the Charlotte area is Coleman, who last season at East Mecklenburg High School was dominant down low in the paint, averaging 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game as a junior. The 6-3 center helped to lead East Mecklenburg to a 27-3 overall record and a 12-0 league record last season, as the team was ranked nationally and has high as No. 16 in the Southeast Region by ESPN.
Coleman, who is ranked No. 22 overall in the Class of 2011 for North Carolina and South Carolina prospects by Southern Premier Hoops and No. 25 overall for North Carolina and South Carolina by the Queen City Hoops Report, transferred to First Assembly Christian School for her senior year.
Joining Heilig, Dunovant and Coleman at GWU in the fall of 2011, Smith is a 5-7 point guard from Huntington, West Virginia and St. Joseph Central Catholic High School. As a junior last season, she averaged 8.9 points, 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game.
Smith, whose father Kyle Sheffield coached her with the D-1 Greyhounds club team, also considered Cincinnati, Akron, Indiana-Purdue and West Virginia State before signing with the Runnin' Bulldogs.
"The signing of this class has the potential to be one of the best recruiting classes we have ever signed in my career," commented head coach Rick Reeves. "They will help continue the tradition of winning we now have here at Gardner-Webb University. I congratulate my coaching staff for brining in such a class of young ladies with Christian character as well as athletic ability."
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who had a record setting season in 2009-10, are off to a 2-0 start in 2010-11, the first time that Gardner-Webb has been 2-0 in the program's 10 year Division I history.
###
