Women's Basketball Completes Recruiting Class
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 19, 1999
Columbia, Mo. - Missouri Coach Cindy Stein's prized recruiting class just got better. The Tigers' second-year coach announced the completion of her first recruiting class on Wednesday morning with signings of Central Arizona College's AMANDA LASSITER and DENISE CARDENAS. Central Arizona was the runner-up in the 1999 NJCAA Division I national championship.
Lassiter becomes the second junior college All-American to sign with Missouri. The 6-1 small forward from San Francisco, Calif. is a first-team Kodak All-American and a first-team NJCAA All-American. She averaged 16.0 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals this past season. She was named the ACCAC Conference Player-of-the-Year. The All-Star Girls Report rates Lassiter as the No. 1 JUCO small forward in the country.
"Amanda is an exceptional player," said Stein. "Her speed, athleticism and excellent skills are sure to be assets to our program. It is exciting to gain a player of Amanda's caliber. This will surely enhance our program," she said.
Joining Lassiter is her junior college teammate Cardenas. The 5-11 guard is originally from Yuma, Ariz. Cardenas is considered the 8th-best shooting guard in the country, according to All-Star Girls Reports. She averaged 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists for Central Arizona and was a third-team All-ACCAC and was third in the conference with a 40 percent shooting percentage from three-point range.
"Denise will help provide us with that three-point attack that we want to establish in our program," said Stein. "Her perimeter shooting and court savvy are needed traits in the development of our team," she said.
Missouri has already signed Kodak All-American MARLENA WILLIAMS as well as four other top-notch freshmen, including Missouri Player-of-the-Year KERENSA BARR.
