49ers women’s basketball sign 5 to National Letters of Intent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte 49ers women’s basketball program, participants in 10-straight postseasons, looks to continue the tradition by signing five players to National Letters of Intent it was announced Wednesday by head coach Cara Consuegra.

The quintet of signees, set to make their debut in the green and white in 2013-14, features a trio from the Carolinas, Tanisha Brown (Loris, S.C.), Mylia Garner (Siler City, N.C.) and Kenya Olley (Spartanburg, S.C.) in addition to one each from Pennsylvania, Ciara Gregory (Jeannette, Pa.) and Virginia, Danielle Webster (Norfolk, Va.).

The class, the second under Consuegra’s watch, includes two forwards (Garner and Olley) and three guards (Brown, Gregory and Webster).

“Overall, we’re really excited about the class that we have been able to sign and bring into Charlotte,” Consuegra said as she signed her second group since taking over the program last season. “Each one of these players bring a specific skill set that we need and fit in perfectly with our system.

“They are all highly-recruited players that could have gone to a lot of different places but they wanted to come to Charlotte to help us compete and continue to compete at the high level at which we have the last several years. I couldn’t be more excited about this group.”

Tanisha Brown • 5-11 • Guard • Loris, S.C./Myrtle Beach HS/SC 76ers AAU
Earned a 92 scouts grade and No. 30 position rank by ESPN HoopGurlz…Ranked as high as the No. 2 player in South Carolina by Southern Premier Hoops…Playing her final high school season for head coach Jennifer Dennison…Tabbed an Insider Exposure All-American for her play with her AAU team during the Summer 2012 tournament season…Listed at No. 33 nationally by Next Level Sports Services in its Top 100 Phenoms rankings…Added another Top 100 listing for Blue Star Basketball…Guided her high school to a 20-6 mark as a junior while averaging 13.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.6 blocks and 2.6 steals per game despite not playing after a January knee injury…Selected to the 2011 3A Region 8 First Team…Won a pair of 3A state titles in 2010 and 2011…Posted five points with seven rebounds during the 2011 state title win against Greenville HS to cap a 25-5 ledger…Tallied 12 points in the 2010 state championship victory over Daniel HS as the team finished with a 29-1 record…Opened her high school career with averages of 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.6 assists per game as a freshman…Competed on the AAU team for coach Anthony Toney.

Mylia Garner • 6-0 • Forward • Siler City, N.C./Jordan-Matthews HS/Carolina All-Stars AAU
Listed as the No. 47 wing player with an 88 scouts grade by ESPN HoopGurlz…Ranked No. 64 nationally in the National Women’s Basketball Insider’s Top 100…Averaged 19.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.5 assists as a junior, leading her high school to a 31-0 record and 2A state championship, the first in school history, under the direction of coach Jeff Stutts…Garnered 2012 NCPREPS.com all-state team accolades…Selected as a 2012 Associated Press North Carolina All-Star…Accumulated 1,604 career points through her first three high school seasons…Tabbed state tournament MVP honors after scoring 22 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots in the final over Wilkes Central HS…Also received 2012 2A East Region (state semifinals) tournament MVP and all-tournament team plaudits after pouring in 28 points and hauling in 11 caroms in the region final against Kinston HS…Posted averages of 19.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game as a sophomore…Began her high school career with averages of 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals as a freshman…Coached on the AAU circuit by Ty Cox.

Ciara Gregory • 5-7 • Guard • Jeannette, Pa./Jeannette HS/Western PA Bruins AAU
Averaged 27.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 4.8 assists per game as a junior, including a 50-point game featuring a 50-footer at the halftime buzzer…Picked as the 2012 Greensburg Tribune-Review Player of the Year and to the newspaper’s Terrific 10 list after each of her last two seasons…Selected as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Female High School Athlete of the Week for December 14, 2011, and March 29, 2012 …Chosen as one of the Post-Gazette‘s Fabulous 5…Garnered a Preseason Player of the Year plaudit from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review…Tallied her 1,000^th career point before the halfway mark of her junior year…Ranked as high as No. 4 in her class on the Greater Pittsburgh Top 25 chart by the Pittsburgh Basketball Report…Helped guide Luann Mills-coached her high school team to the 2010 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) crown with a 25-3 record and 2011 runner-up result…Converted several key free throws late to clinch the title as part of her team-high 14 points, including the final seven in a three-point win over Seton-LaSalle HS…Led the WPIAL with her scoring average as a junior and ranked second in the state…Tabbed to the 2A all-state third team by the Pennsylvania sports writers after her sophomore campaign…Named to the 2011 Franklin Regional all-tournament team…Averaged 19.0 points per game as a sophomore and 14.0 points per game as a freshman…Played for coach Ron Mumbray with her AAU squad…Team won the 2011 U15 national championship.

Kenya Olley • 6-3 • Forward • Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman HS/North Carolina Spartans Elite AAU
Garnered a No. 62 position rank and 86 scouts grade by ESPN HoopGurlz…Tabbed an all-state first team by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association and Region II 4A all-state honoree as a junior playing for coach Valorie Whiteside…Chosen to the all-state squad by the High School Sports  Report-South Carolina High School League…Averaged 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks with an 80.0 free-throw percentage in 2011-12…Led her high school to the Upper State finals as a junior with a 24-3 record…Netted 24 of her team’s 46 points in the championship against Dutch Fork HS…Effort capped a state playoff run which saw her increase her averages to 19 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks over a four-game stretch…Named to the 2012 Spartanburg Herald-Journal’s All-Area First Team and to the All-Region II 4A Team…Earned a region Player of the Week honor in December 2011…Finished with a team-leading 70.0 3-point field goal percentage as a junior…Ranked among the Top 20 players for the Carolinas on the Queen City Hoops Report…Listed in the South Carolina Players to Watch by the Southern Hoops Girls Basketball Report…Selected to the 2011 Upward Classic all-tournament team…Registered averages of 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game as a sophomore…Member of the 2012 Homecoming Court…Plays for the club team coached by Cynthia Johnson.

Danielle Webster • 5-8 • Guard • Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Christian HS
Playing her final campaign for coach Curtis Turner… Earned 2012 Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools (TCIS) co-Player of the Year honors and an all-conference first team nod…Selected to the Division II Virginia Independent Schools Girls’ Basketball Association All-State Second Team…Tallied 1,484 career points by the end of her junior season… Received 2011 and 2010 National Christian School Athletic Association (NCSAA) Second Team All-American…Garnered 2011 and 2010 NCSAA Northeast Super-Region accolades…Named to the Virginian-Pilot‘s All-Tidewater Second Team after a junior campaign in which she averaged 19.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.7 steals and 4.4 assists…Collected 2012 TCIS Tournament MVP plaudits…Earned a spot on the 2011 All-TCIS squad…Listed among the Real Basketball Report‘s District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia/West Virginia Top-25 Region rankings…Registered 18.9 points per game and picked up Virginia Independent Schools’ all-tournament team recognition as a sophomore.

2013 Charlotte 49ers Women’s Basketball Signees
Tanisha Brown (5-11, G, Loris, S.C.)
Mylia Garner (6-0, F, Siler City, N.C.)
Ciara Gregory (5-7, G, Jeannette, Pa.)
Kenya Olley (6-3, F, Spartanburg, S.C.)
Danielle Webster (5-8, G, Norfolk, Va.)