SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sherita Stanley's unintentional long and winding road through collegiate women's basketball competition will bring her to Slippery Rock University next fall.
A multi-talented 5-foot-9 guard who hails from Minden, La., and played last winter at John A. Logan College in Illinois, Stanley signed an NCAA Division II national letter of intent Monday with SRU.
She is the second recruit to sign with The Rock since Tanya Bauer was named as SRU's head coach in May. Stanley joins Dannielle Smith, a 5-11 forward from Brown Mackie College, as the newest members of the Green and White program.
“Sherita is a very talented and versatile guard who brings a lot of experience to our program," Bauer said. "Her maturity on and off the court will be a tremendous asset for us.”
“You got a good one,” John A. Logan head coach Marty Hawkins said. “You got a lot of leadership, a lot of maturity and a great work ethic.
“She will show up and do the right thing right away as a citizen, student and player. She'll be one of your captains, one of your leaders on and off the court.
“She's a unique young lady, very personable and very mature for her age,” Hawkins added. “She's seen more and been more places in her 20 years than most people 35 or 40 years old.”
A lot of that maturity has come out of necessity. Stanley's road to The Rock has been … well, rocky.
“She's had to handle a lot of adversity in her life,” Hawkins said in what can only be described as an understatement. “The death of her mother, being far from home, blowing out a knee and then breaking a hand …
“But it's always a good day in her mind,” Hawkins added. “She's always upbeat and positive. That's what makes her so remarkable and such a pleasure to be around.”
Stanley began her collegiate career at nearby Southern University-Shreveport, where she earned National Junior College Athletic Association Division I all-region honors as a freshman. During that season, though, her mother died of a brain tumor.
Stanley subsequently transferred to John A. Logan. Three games into her career with the Volunteers, she blew out a knee. Then, after rehabbing the knee and being fitted with a brace, she broke a hand during a practice drill.
“Her statistics (6 points, 5 rebounds per game) don't show it, but she had a real strong last six weeks for us last winter,” Hawkins said. “It's too bad she wasn't healthy the entire season.”
The rash of injuries probably kept Stanley from earning an NCAA Division I scholarship, Hawkins said, because, as he put it, “she can play.”
“She can play inside or outside, she plays bigger than her size, she's a great defender, she works hard and she's a bright young lady,” Hawkins said. “She's got what every coach wants in a player. I just wish I could have had her in a four-year setting instead of a one-year situation.”
Stanley joins a Rock program led by Bauer, who assumed The Rock reins after serving nine seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant coach, the past two at Southern Illinois University.
The Rock,, who return two starters from last winter's team, opens its 2010-11 season Nov. 2 with an exhibition game at Division I Cleveland State. The official season opener is Nov. 15, when SRU will hosts Tiffin (Ohio) University in a 7 p.m. game in Morrow Field House.
