Saturday, May 17, 2008

College Sports

Posted on Wednesday, May 07, 2008

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Tyler Junior College's Girls Basketball Player Murphy Staying In Texas; Spears Headed Out To Play

Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero

TJC SOPHOMORES: Yoshica Spears (left) and April Murphy announced their intentions to attend Kent State and TCU, respectively, on basketball scholarships.

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

All three sophomores on the Tyler Junior College women’s basketball team are now signed, sealed and delivered to the NCAA Division I ranks.

TJC head coach Trenia Jones announced Tuesday that April Murphy will be going to TCU while Yoshica Spears is bound for Kent State. Chasity Shavers inked a letter of intent with San Jose State last month.

Murphy possesses two qualities that every program seeks. At 6-6, she’s a tall post who is fast enough to keep up with smaller players.

“I can basically keep up with the guards and it’s hard for a post to be able to do that,” said Murphy, who averaged 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game as a sophomore.

Murphy also admitted a down side to her game, one that rated only honorable mention on the all-conference team.

“I have my good games but sometimes I don’t feel like going or whatever, so I have my bad games,” she said. “I just need to keep it constant all the time.”

Murphy, who graduated from Corpus Christi Carroll High School, accomplished her goal of staying in Texas and playing for a prominent Division I program. Murphy said Baylor was initially where she wanted to go, but TCU made an appointment to watch a TJC practice while Baylor never came.

While Murphy was able to stay in-state, Spears decided that leaving Texas would be all right.

Kent State, located in Kent, Ohio, took the lead in recruiting the physical 5-10 guard and easily won out.

“That was the only school I visited, but I talked to a bunch of others,” said Spears, a Nome resident who graduated from Hardin-Jefferson High School. “They just kind of caught me from the beginning. They were real nice and took me in.”

She added that Kent State, coming off a 9-21 campaign, like that she was a big guard that wasn’t afraid to shoot the ball and possessed some qualities of a forward.

Spears made the all-conference team after averaging 11.1 points per game, but she too admitted to some pitfalls during a sophomore season that saw the Apache Ladies lose in the first round of the Region XIV Tournament.

“I think this year I just lost some confidence in myself and I lost the goal of what coach (Jones) wanted me to do,” Spears said. “Basically I just need to get the mentality of having confidence in myself that I can do anything anybody else can do. I just need to dedicate more time to playing basketball.”

When Spears struggled on offense last season, she usually made up for it on the defensive end. She would often guard the hot shooter on the other team.

“When your offense is not working, defense gets you through the game,” Spears said.

Smoke Signals:

TCU went 23-12 this past season, including 13-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The Lady Frogs lost in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. TCU has posted seven 20-win seasons in the last eight years. …

The Kent State Golden Flashes finished 5-11 in the Mid-American Conference with no seniors listed on their nine-player roster.

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