This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Nora Princiotti
The women’s basketball team added a fifth piece to its highly touted recruiting class, signing Colombian guard Camila Tapias to a National Letter of Intent, the athletics department announced Friday.
Tapias, a 5-foot-6 combo guard and native of Bogotá, is a smooth-stroking lefty with deep range. Tapias led IMG Academy with 14.5 points, 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Tapias, who reportedly had offers from Georgetown, Auburn and San Diego State, will be added to a Colonials backcourt that has major shoes to fill with the graduations of Danni Jackson and Megan Nipe, who left gaps on the perimeter for the Colonials.
“[Tapias] is a talented left-handed player who will be able to score in a variety of ways in our high-scoring offense,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said in a release. “With the graduation of [Jackson and Nipe], we are excited to add Cami to our talented core of perimeter players that will make up the 2014-15 roster.”
Tapias also has experience in the international circuit. She was the second best scorer in the world at the 2012 FIBA Americas Championships and led the Columbian U-18 National Team by averaging 15.0 points and three three-point field goals per game.
Tapias joins guards Brianna Cummings and Mia Farmer as well as post players Jada Matthews and Kelli Prange, who all signed letters of intent during the early signing period last November. The quartet had already been ranked as the Atlantic 10’s top recruiting class and the No. 41 recruiting class in the nation by Blue Star Report, prior to the addition of Tapias.
“[Tapias’] addition to our 2014 class gives us the ability to score the basketball from all over the floor,” Tsipis said. “[Tapias] joins [Matthews, Farmer, Prange and Cummings] as players who have been successful at a high level, and we are excited to coach them for the next four years.”
The new additions will join a Colonials squad that finished last season 23-11, a nine-win improvement from a year ago.