The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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"I would expect her to make an immediate impact. That may not be 20 minutes a game, but it will probably be the little things that she does." Eli embraced the oppor- tunity to blaze a path for herself in Raleigh. "I live in Big 12 coun- try with Baylor and Texas Tech not far away," she said. "A lot of my team- mates are going to the Big 12. I wanted to get out there and play someplace new, and the ACC is a very competitive conference." Meanwhile, Gatling will be making a return home after signing with NC State. The former Athens Drive High stand- out suited up for the last two years at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. The 6-5 athlete ended the year ranked as the No. 7 overall player at the junior college level, according to ASGR. Gatling helped her team finish ranked All-Star Girls Report ranks center Markeisha Gatling, a Raleigh native, as the seventh-best junior college player in the nation. PHOTO COURTESY GULF COAST CC championship and reached the championship game of the NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Region 8 Tournament. As a sophomore, Gat- ling averaged 11.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. She finished fourth in NJCAA Division I with a field goal percentage of 63.7 percent (151 of 237), which led all Region 8 players, and also made the top 10 in her region for rebounds (fourth) and blocks per game (ninth). "She looks the part of an ACC post player," Harper said. "She's a big, strong kid, is athletic and has great hands. She has a lot of savvy, and you don't see that a lot with kids her size. "She's really good, and I think she has No. 1 in the Florida College System Activi- ties Association's (FCSAA) coaches' poll with a final record of 24-5. The team also won a share of the Panhandle Conference an opportunity to come in and be a huge presence for us. I'm not going to promise anything, but she has a big opportunity. She shoots a very high percentage because she takes quality shots. "The only limits that this kid has will be any limits she has on herself. She can be that NC State Hitch Covers QTY. ITEM DESCRIPTION Hitch Cover (Item #2130) Please choose color: SHIPPING & HANDLING o Chrome o Camo o Red 1 Hitch: Add $5.00 2 or more: Add $9.00 o My check or money order made payable to The Wolfpacker is enclosed. PRICE EACH $38.95 Subtotal Tax (NC 7%, IN 7%, MI 6%) S&H (see chart) TOTAL o Please charge to my: o Visa o MasterCard o AmEx o Discover (Credit Card Charges Will Appear On Your Statement As Coman Publishing Co.) Card No._______________________________________________ Exp. Date _________ Name________________________________________________ Sec. Code __________ Address ________________________________________________________________ City______________________________________________State______ Zip _________ Daytime Phone # (_______) ________________________________________________ 58 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TOTAL $38.95 plus S&H Made from chrome-plated metal — no plastic! Front plate 5" wide by 3.5" tall Fits standard 2" hitch receivers THE WOLFPACKER P.O. BOX 2331 DURHAM, NC 27702 1-800-421-7751 COMANPUBLISHING.COM good and she has the possibility of having us sit here watching her on draft day in two years." Gatling tallied 1,273 points during her prep days, which stands second in school history, and set a North Carolina High School Athletic Association single-season record for field goal percentage at 74.1 percent. She was ranked as the No. 88 player in the country by Blue Star Basketball as a senior, but ASGR recruiting expert Bret McCormick noted she has improved greatly at Gulf Coast. He com- pared her to Georgia Tech's Sasha Goodlett, a 6-5 center who was selected No. 11 overall in this year's WNBA Draft, and said she could be a similar player. "I think it's a good class and I think they kind of got what they wanted, they did pretty well," he said. "They got Eli, who can guard and fill a role. She'll do a good job for them, but Gatling was the main get. She's the first true low-post player with size that Kellie has had since she's been there. They're more guard-oriented, and Kellie does a good job with that, but they actually have an in- side game now. If they play somebody that doesn't have anybody very big, they can ex- ploit that team." Height: 5-11 Position: Wing Senior stats: 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.9 assists per game Committed: June 25, 2011 All-Star Girls Report national ranking: No. 211 Recruiting expert Bret McCormick: "An athletic Ashley Eli kid with a great body. She does all the little things with a blue-collar mentality. She will be able to guard the ath- leticism you see out on the wing throughout the ACC." Mansfield Summit coach Tammy Lusinger: "She's a great team player who is a very heady, smart basketball player, who understands the game very well. She really maximizes her abilities through hard work." College): 11.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.2 blocks and 0.5 assists per game Committed: Sept. 6, 2011 All-Star Girls Report national ranking: No. 7 junior college player Recruiting expert Bret McCormick: "This is a Height: 6-5 Position: Post Sophomore stats (at Gulf Coast Community Markeisha Gatling has great hands and a great body, athletic, and she just has to be more aggressive. She's pretty good at the line and she is going to get fouled a bunch. In the half-court game, she can be unstoppable." ■ great pickup for the Wolfpack. She is a legitimate post that you can throw the ball into and she will score. Not only is she local, but for a third straight season this class is weak across the board when it comes to post players. Markeisha is certainly one of the top players at her posi- tion in this signing class." Gulf Coast coach Mary "Roonie" Scovel: "She