BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Junior college transfer Naomi Mayes and Egyptian national Raneem Elgedawy have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Lady Topper Basketball program for the 2016-17 season as announced by Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard on Friday afternoon.
The Lady Toppers are coming off a 27-7 campaign that saw the team reach the quarterfinals of the WNIT while winning multiple postseason games in a national tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Many of the key pieces, including C-USA Player and Defensive Player of the Year Kendall Noble, are set to return for WKU in 2016-17, while Kentucky transfers Jaycee Coe and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers will become eligible to take the court as well.
WKU has already added three Kentucky natives for the 2016-17 campaign, inking Whitney Creech, Sarah Price and Malaka Frank during the fall signing period. Creech closed her high school career as Kentucky's all-time leading scorer, male or female, and both she and Frank earned Region Player of the Year honors. All three have been selected to represent Kentucky in the state's All-Star Game, the first time that the Lady Toppers have had three recruits in the game in the same year since 2012.
NAOMI MAYES
Mayes joins the Lady Toppers from Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill., and will have three years of eligibility remaining. The guard was the second-leading scorer for the Lady Wolves as a freshman in 2014-15 while leading the squad in assists and free throws both made and attempted. In 32 games, she averaged 20.8 minutes per outing with 13 starts while pouring in nine points per game.
The quick guard led the Lady Wolves to a 21-11 record during her freshman season, reaching double figures in scoring 13 times.
Playing under Head Coach Shaun Sanderson, the 5'5" Crest Hill, Ill., native commanded the offense for Joliet and is expected to provide additional depth at point guard for the Lady Toppers.
Clark-Heard on Mayes...
"We are very excited to add Naomi to our roster. She's a quick, intelligent point guard with great court vision who will have three years of eligibility remaining and provide immediate depth at the position for us. Our fans are going to love her passion and enthusiasm for the game. She's a winner; I feel like we've added another high-character, highly-driven player to our team. I think Naomi is going to help make everyone on the team better, that's what we're expecting of her."
RANEEM ELGEDAWY
An Egyptian national from Alexandria, Egypt, Elgedawy has represented her nation at the U-19 level, competing in both the FIBA World Championships and the 2015 Afrobasket Championships. Standing at 6'4", Elgedawy will provide an immediate boost in post depth for the Lady Toppers.
In eight games at the 2015 Afrobasket Championships, Elgedawy nearly averaged a double-double with 11.9 points and 8.1 rebounds. Her best performance in the event came on Sept. 25 when she totaled 19 points, 17 rebounds and a pair of blocks in an 81-73 victory over Guinea. Elgedawy reached double figures in four games and pulled down double-digit rebounds in three outings during the tournament that saw Egypt finish in eighth place overall.
At the U-19 World Championships, Elgedawy averaged 18 points and 8.9 rebounds across seven contests, including three double-doubles against Spain, the United States and Taiwan. She was the team's leading scorer and rebounder against the United States (14 points, 10 rebounds) and tallied her tournament-high mark of 26 points against Spain.
Clark-Heard on Elgedawy...
"I am honored and proud to have a young lady like Raneem to choose to travel halfway around the world to be a Lady Topper. She will give a bigger presence inside than we've had recently and some much-needed depth in the post. Her experience playing with the Egyptian national team against international competition really helps her to be more prepared to compete for playing time right away. We are very fortunate to add a player like Raneem in this spring signing period."
