Women's recruits coming for Midnight Madness

Two women's recruits visiting next weekend for Midnight Madness and update on target Mistie Bass.

Since the Carolina women's team is going to make an appearance at the "Midnight with the Heels" event to kickoff the 2001-2002 season on October 12th, the Heels coaching staff is making the most of the event by inviting recruits. One already committed prospect and a highly sought after recruit will be in attendance.

Carolina women's basketball verbal commitment Jessica Sell (pictured above and below on right) will visit Chapel Hill on Oct. 12 for her official visit and hopes to catch the midnight opening before official practices begin.

Her father and basketball coach, Rick Sell, told IC he expects her to sign during the early signing period. He also said their in-home visit went well, "Coach Hatchell and Coach Williams left a wonderful impression upon the people that were fortunate enough to meet them during their visit to West Virginia."

Sell is a 5-11 guard/forward from North Marion, WV whose versatility should make her an immediate contributor to the Heels. She presently plays point guard for North Marion but can play anywhere from point to power forward. The lefty averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks a game. She is a first team All-State selection as a junior (second team as a sophomore) nominee for WV Player of the Year as a junior and received Most Outstanding Player honors at the Beach Ball tournament.

Also visiting is recruit Barbara Turner. The 6-2 forward/center is listing Rutgers, UConn, UNC, Southern Cal and Georgia as her final five but Rutgers and UConn are thought to lead.

Turner visited Georgia last weekend and is at Rutgers this weekend. After her UNC visit, she will visit UConn on the weekend of the October 21st and Southern Cal on weekend of November 2nd.

The (Cleveland) East Tech star averaged 23 points and a whooping 19 rebounds due to long arms, great foot speed and lower body strength. She is ranked from 9-12 in several national rankings and has the potential to be a star. This summer she eliminated Duke, Ohio State Purdue, North Carolina State and Texas from her list.

Turner will probably play at forward in college but has played all five positions in high school. She is expected to make a decision as soon as she concludes her official visits.

Recruiting notes: Also considering the Heels still is 6-3 Mistie Bass from Janesville Parker HS (WI). She's a Tennessee lean right now but is still listing UNC, Duke, Rutgers and local Wisconsin. Her high school coach told the Women's Basketball Journal that Bass cut Connecticut and Notre Dame from her list.

Bass is a great finisher with solid fundamentals and excellent defensive presence who averaged 17.8 points and 11.9 rebounds and 4.4 blocked shots per game. She lead her squad to a 26-1 record last season and a 2nd consecutive state championship while being a unanimous selection Miss Basketball in Wisconsin for the second straight year.

This summer she was selected an alternate to USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship team - only one of two players on the roster or alternate list who will not be playing college basketball this fall. She also lead the AAU 17 and under squad, the Wisconsin Velocity Red, to win AAU national championship. They defeated Ohio Y-Nets, 94-76 and Bass was the tournament MVP.

Some people think she looks a lot like her dad - check out the photo and see what you think:

Bass photo 1   Bass photo 2

Bass' father younger days   Bass' father (left) now.