May 9, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Friday, May 09, 2008) One of the nation's top NCAA women's basketball internet sites as rated the 2008-09 Redhawks recruiting class 53rd best in the country. The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report based out of Tampa, Florida has the Redhawks tabbed as bringing in the best recruiting class in the Ohio Valley Conference next season.

The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, directed by veteran analyst and former collegiate basketball coach Dan Olson, crosses the nation in order to provide subscribers and NCAA coaches with accurate and descriptive ratings and rankings. Olson has been working in the game for over 20 years, with a background that gives him insight into all levels of the game, from the high school ranks to the professional level.

The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report rates nearly 1,500 players in each class as well as 1,000 junior college prospects. Prospects in each region of the country are identified after extensive, year-round scouting, including quiet and dead period events.

According to Olson, signees Victoria Smith and Bianca Beck rank very high in terms of their ability to provide an impact at the NCAA D-I level.

Smith, who played at nearby Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., is ranked as the nation's No. 8 junior college small forward. Beck is rated as the No. 48 point guard out of the high school level and ranks in the top-300 overall players nationally.

Fellow recruits Lesley Adams, Trevonna Cannon, Daumonique Lenhardt and Amber Holmes help make the 2008-09 class one of the best recruiting classes to ever come to Southeast Missouri State in recent memory.