Lady Mocs land four commitments

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball program has picked up four verbal commitments recently for their 2011 signing class.

Giving their non-binding nod to UTC are Ka'Vonne Towns, a 5-foot-10 wing from Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Ga.; 6-foot forward Kayla Freeman of Madison County High in Danielsville, Ga.; 5-11 guard Kelsee Cheek of Jay M. Robinson High in Concord, N.C.; and 6-foot forward Ashley Southern of Deshler High School in Tuscumbia, Ala.

The early signing period begins on Nov. 10.

Towns and Freeman were AAU teammates on the Georgia Elite 16U squad that won a state championship in May.

"We both really liked [UTC] so we talked about playing together," said Towns, who averaged 9.7 points, 4.7 steals and 4.5 rebounds for Berkmar last season and was named Region 8-AAAAA first team all-region. "

Towns' sister, Kiara Evans, took a recruiting trip to UTC in 2006 before opting to sign with Louisville. Towns made the trip with her, so she was already familiar with Chattanooga and the program.

Freeman, meanwhile, is well acquainted with the Southern Conference. Her older sister is Courtney Freeman, a sophomore guard/forward at Appalachian State. She earned Athens Banner-Herald all-area honors last season after averaging 13.9 points and 11.3 rebounds a game.

"I had narrowed by decision down and it was between App State and UTC," Freeman said. "I really loved the coaches, the campus, I liked everything there, and I really liked the city. The program has a great history and I just felt like the school was for me."

Freeman said her sister took the news well.

"She told me wherever I decided to go, she'll support me and still be my sister, regardless," Freeman said. "I kind of wanted to go on my own path. We played in high school together and I was known as Courtney's little sister, so I wanted to go in my own direction."

Southern, who committed to coach Wes Moore on Friday, helped lead Deshler to the Class 4A state championship game last season and made the all-tournament team. She averaged 20.4 points and 12.4 rebounds a game last season for the Tigers, one of the top programs in the state for many years.

Citing UTC's rich tradition - 11 straight SoCon regular-season titles - and style of play, Southern picked UTC over South Alabama, UAB, Troy, Southern Miss and SoCon rival Samford.

"It was a difficult decision," Southern told the Florence TimesDaily. "I didn't like calling the other coaches and telling them my decision."

Cheek was the first player in Concord Robinson history to amass 1,000 career points. She was the South Piedmont Conference player of the year last season after averaging 20 points per game.

Cheek said she picked UTC over Davidson and Liberty.

The four commitments were a welcome bit of good news for a UTC program that has been hit hard by departures this offseason. Michelle Davis, Erin Helton and Kori Penland, along with signee Taylor Hall, all decided to give up basketball.

The Lady Mocs return only two starters from last season and will likely rely heavily on young players for the next few seasons.

Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mocsbeat

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