As if a No. 3 preseason ranking and a victory over Division I Kansas State in exhibition play wasn’t enough, Emporia State women’s coach Brandon Schneider added five more reasons for Lady Hornet fans to smile with the signing of five players to letters-of-intent this week.
Alli Volkens and Allie Renberg officially signed Thursday, joining Bree Kisner, Brittney Miller and Jessen Tucker as one of the most deep and highly-anticipated recruiting classes in ESU history.
“There’s very few occasions where you do feel like you hit a home run,” Schneider said. “With this particular group, we feel like we got the top person at every one of our lists.”
Six seniors will graduate from this year’s team, meaning Schneider needed to restock the cupboard quickly if he wanted to remain a favorite in the competitive MIAA. He seems to have done just that with this class, as each of the five players that signed was talented enough to attract Division-I offers.
“Most importantly, it’s probably a credit to our community and the support they give us,” Schneider said. “To a person, they all said there’s no doubt that was the No. 1 reason they chose Emporia State.”
The class is highlighted by Miller, who will play both volleyball and basketball for ESU after being offered D-I scholarships in both sports.
A 5-foot-10 guard from Paola, Miller averaged 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds last year, earning All-State honors each of her three seasons. Schneider believes she can make even greater improvements as she focuses more of her offseason time to basketball.
“She’s a tremendous athlete who I think has a lot of upside as a basketball player, much like Michelle Stueve had a lot of upside,” Schneider said. “Athletically, there’s just not many at this level that are going to possess the ability to run and jump and move laterally that she does.”
Kisner comes in as a 5-9 guard from William Chrisman High School in Independence, Mo. Though she scored 16.9 points with 6.6 assists per game last season, she might even be more valuable as a floor general in years to come.
“She’s very competitive and a very vocal leader,” Schneider said. “She’s got a little bit of a mean and nasty streak in her, which is a compliment.”
Kisner also can score the ball in numerous ways and will help fill the point production lost from this year’s seniors.
Tucker, a 5-9 guard from Cedar Vale, also will be asked to help put up some points. She was a first-team All-State performer last season, averaging 17.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.0 steals.
Known as a great shooter, Tucker reminds Schneider of former Lady Hornet guard Andi McAlexander.
“She’s somebody you have to really pay attention to when she’s got her feet behind the three-point line,” Schneider said. “At the same time, she’s really unselfish and a great passer.”
Volkens, a 6-2 forward from Reinbeck, Iowa, will help to fill the void in the low post.
She was named a first-team All-State player by the Iowa Newspaper Association last year, averaging 19.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.
“In the future, I think Alli Volkens will be one of the more dominant post players of the MIAA,” Schneider said. “Her offensive skills are going to improve, and they’re going to improve drastically. We feel like when she does that, look out. She could really be not only one of the better post players in the league, she could really be dominant.”
Renberg, a 6-1 forward from Sleepy Eye, Minn., also will help down low after transferring from Iowa Lakes Community College. She is a preseason NJCAA All-American this year after averaging 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Lakers last season.
Though he doesn’t want to put pressure on any of his players, Schneider compared Renberg’s athleticism and skill set to that of former ESU players Tara Holloway and Emily Bloss.
“She’s someone that has the ability to score with her back to the basket, but she can also step away and beat you with her first step,” Schneider said. “She could really cause some matchup problems.”
Though he has had recruiting classes that have ended up with a National Player of the Year in them, Schneider said this group had the most depth of any he had brought in.
“I know there’s not many more classes,” Schneider said, “that we’re more proud of than this one.”