Stephanie Salyers signs with Morehead State

By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset November 19, 2008 12:01 am

— Southwestern basketball standout Stephanie Salyers still has one more season with the Lady Warriors. However, after a phenomenal junior prep season and a couple of good summer AAU seasons, the 6’1” post player has already signed a national letter of intent to join the Morehead State women's basketball program. Salyers is the first 2009-10 recruit for Lady Eagle coach Mike Bradbury.
“Stephanie was our first commitment for the 09-10 group,” Bradbury said. “We liked Stephanie for her versatility. She is a good rebounder and she is a good defender.”
Salyers has been a starting center for Southwestern since her 8th-grade year. She was the 2007-08 Commonwealth Journal Player of the Year and the 2008 District 48 Tournament MVP when she averaged 15 points and nine rebounds per game for the season. Salyers was also named to the 2007 12th Regional All-Tournament team and was the 2007-08 WYMT Most Improved Player.
Southwestern coach Tim Rice remembers Salyers in her early years as a Lady Warrior and he reflects with pride on how much she worked to earn a Division-1 college scholarship.
“Stephanie came a long way,” Rice commented. “She came to us as an eighth-grader and she was not as graceful around the basket as we would have liked for here to be, but she was the kind of player who wanted to stay late after practice and come into the gym on the weekends.”
“She ran a lot on her own and she put a lot of energy in making herself a better player,” Rice continued. “Then, she sort of blossomed as a player her sophomore year and she filled in when we had a couple of injuries and she came in and picked us up. She has had an outstanding career from then on.”
Salyers’ sudden progression even amazed her and the college offer she received from her basketball skills.
“When I first started playing basketball I never dreamed of playing for a college like Morehead,” Salyers admitted. “I started to play a lot of AAU basketball and I think that is where the Morehead coaches first saw me play. In high school, I hadn’t really done much until last year.”
“I really thought if I got a chance to play college basketball, it would probably be somewhere small,” Salyers added. “But I just kept working hard and it was my dream to play Division 1 ball. I know it will be a lot of work to play at this level, but that is what I want. I know I could probably go somewhere small and play right off, but I want to be part of something bigger than just me playing.”
Salyers has been a member of the Kentucky Xtreme AAU program where she was a catalyst in leading her team to the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Kentucky state AAU titles. In 2007, the Xtreme finished ninth in the nation at the AAU National Tournament.
“The coaches at Morehead know hat ‘the sky is the limit’ for Stephanie because she has not even tapped her potential,” Rice said. “I think once she gets into college and plays against some girls her own size everyday in practice, then I think she will become an even stronger collegiate player.”
“Stephanie should be able to hold her own inside at the college level,” Rice, a former college coach, explained. “She is a legitimate 6’1”, she has a good solid body, and she has done a lot of conditioning and training to help with her footwork. So, I think she will be able to hold her own in the D1 college ranks. Stephanie has the knowledge, the attitude and ‘the want to’ to be prosperous as a college basketball player.”
Salyers explained that she was impressed with Morehead University after her initial college visit. Likewise, the Lady Eagle coaching staff was impressed with Salyers.
“Morehead was my first college visit and they offered me a college scholarship right there on the spot,” Salyers recalled. “That was really surprising and it took me a little while but I ended up committing early last season. I just knew that when I got there, that is what I wanted.”
“Morehead has a lot of class diversity, which is good for me since I am not real sure what I want to do yet,” Salyers added. “I like the coaches and their style of play. There were other colleges, but once I visited Morehead I knew that is where I wanted to go.”
Salyers is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Honor Roll, Who's Who Among American High School Students, and the National Society of High School Scholars. She is a student representative of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Title IX Committee.

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