BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Ex-Lady Lion Russell starts visits at UConn

May 11, 2004

Donald Wagner
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Associate Editor

With the ink on her transfer papers from Penn State barely dry, Reicina Russell is hitting the road.

The 6-foot-6 Russell, who announced at the end of the spring semester that she would transfer from PSU, has already set up official visits with several schools.

Her first stop will be Connecticut. The Indianapolis native plans to arrive in Storrs, Conn., tomorrow and stay until Friday, seeing what the five-time defending national champions have to offer.

?But that doesn?t mean anything,? she said. ?I?m trying to check out everybody. I?m not just going to pinpoint one school and go with it.?

Russell already knows what the Huskies can do on the floor, having seen them end the Lady Lions? season in the Elite 8 March 29 in Hartford, Conn.

UConn recently lost Liz Sherwood, a 6-4 center from Castle Rock, Colo., who decided to transfer. Additionally, center Jessica Moore is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in her right knee, an injury she suffered in the national championship game against Tennessee. She is expected to return in October.

The Huskies also recently quit pursuing center Gillian Goring, a 6-7 center from Arkansas-Fort Smith Junior College. Goring originally signed a letter-of-intent with the Huskies in 2002, but academic issues forced her to attend Fort Smith and she never enrolled at UConn.

Russell also plans to take official visits to Georgia and Florida but hasn?t decided where she will make her last two trips. NCAA rules allow players only five official visits.

While Russell, a Big Ten All-Freshman team selection this season, wouldn?t rank the schools she is considering in order of preference, she did mention that Florida seemed to be ?a great fit.?

The Gators not only recently lost center Vanessa Hayden to graduation and the WNBA draft, but head coach Carolyn Peck spent two years as the head coach at Purdue. Russell got to know both her and assistant Kerry Cremeans, who came to Florida from the Boilermakers last spring, during several unofficial visits to West Lafayette.

?They are all pretty much equal,? Russell said of the schools she is considering. ?I?m looking at all of them and just going to do my homework.?

Russell is also considering Louisville and Kentucky. Wherever she ends up, Russell will have to sit out a year per NCAA transfer guidelines, although she will not lose any eligibility.

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