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Fourteen-year-old commits to Lady Vols
Avant is guard for Memphis Lausanne
By DAN FLESER, fleser@knews.com
November 25, 2006
Rather than take her time, Lauren Avant took the initiative.
The high school freshman from Memphis called Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt on Thanksgiving and committed to the Lady Vols.
"I wanted to give Coach Pat something to be thankful for,'' Avant said.
The 5-foot-81/2 guard plays for Lausanne Collegiate School. She's starting her second season of varsity basketball. As an eighth grader, she averaged 12.6 points per game for a team that went 30-4.
Avant, who is 14 years old, was the only high school freshman named honorable mention to Street & Smith's magazine's High School All-American team. She already was drawing considerable attention from collegiate programs.
"She was getting a lot of mail, a lot of contact,'' said Andre Pruitt, who is Avant's father and her AAU coach. "It was already very heavy."
Avant said that she was receiving direct phone contact from schools.
"They're not supposed to; it happens,'' said Avant, who said she met with an NCAA official about the recruiting process.
Regarding Tennessee, Avant said, "They talked to my father. They never talked to me at all."
Nonetheless, the Lady Vols weren't recruiting wallflowers. Avant said Summitt sat in the front row last summer when Avant's AAU team was playing at the 15-and-under nationals in Monroe, La.
"It was huge for Pat to come,'' she said.
Summitt wasn't the only coach who was watching, which might have been another reason why Avant brought the recruiting process to a premature close.
"You have to perform in front of all these coaches,'' she said. "They're watching everything I do. It's kind of stressful, especially at a young age."
Avant made several unofficial campus visits this fall with her parents, including two to Tennessee. If anything, she was ready to make her decision a week ago.
"I knew I didn't want to leave the state of Tennessee,'' she said. "It was between Vanderbilt and Tennessee. I just felt comfortable at Tennessee.''
"Tennessee is my dream college. I always knew that's where I wanted to go."
More Recruiting: Amber Gray, a 6-1 forward from West Chester, Ohio, is making an unofficial visit this weekend.
Avant is guard for Memphis Lausanne
By DAN FLESER, fleser@knews.com
November 25, 2006
Rather than take her time, Lauren Avant took the initiative.
The high school freshman from Memphis called Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt on Thanksgiving and committed to the Lady Vols.
"I wanted to give Coach Pat something to be thankful for,'' Avant said.
The 5-foot-81/2 guard plays for Lausanne Collegiate School. She's starting her second season of varsity basketball. As an eighth grader, she averaged 12.6 points per game for a team that went 30-4.
Avant, who is 14 years old, was the only high school freshman named honorable mention to Street & Smith's magazine's High School All-American team. She already was drawing considerable attention from collegiate programs.
"She was getting a lot of mail, a lot of contact,'' said Andre Pruitt, who is Avant's father and her AAU coach. "It was already very heavy."
Avant said that she was receiving direct phone contact from schools.
"They're not supposed to; it happens,'' said Avant, who said she met with an NCAA official about the recruiting process.
Regarding Tennessee, Avant said, "They talked to my father. They never talked to me at all."
Nonetheless, the Lady Vols weren't recruiting wallflowers. Avant said Summitt sat in the front row last summer when Avant's AAU team was playing at the 15-and-under nationals in Monroe, La.
"It was huge for Pat to come,'' she said.
Summitt wasn't the only coach who was watching, which might have been another reason why Avant brought the recruiting process to a premature close.
"You have to perform in front of all these coaches,'' she said. "They're watching everything I do. It's kind of stressful, especially at a young age."
Avant made several unofficial campus visits this fall with her parents, including two to Tennessee. If anything, she was ready to make her decision a week ago.
"I knew I didn't want to leave the state of Tennessee,'' she said. "It was between Vanderbilt and Tennessee. I just felt comfortable at Tennessee.''
"Tennessee is my dream college. I always knew that's where I wanted to go."
More Recruiting: Amber Gray, a 6-1 forward from West Chester, Ohio, is making an unofficial visit this weekend.
