In addition to six players from Kansas whose signings were recently made public, the Southwestern College women's basketball program has announced the signing of nine players from outside Kansas for the 2010-2011 basketball season.

Those nine include one from Ohio and eight from Oklahoma. All but one will be freshmen.

"We think this is a group that brings a lot of potential to the table," SC Head Coach Dave Denly said. "There is a good mixture of guards and forwards, a lot of length in this group, and we feel there are some people who are going to compete and play very hard. A number of these players were recruited by multiple schools before choosing to become Lady Builders. Combined with the six Kansas players we have signed, I believe this has to be considered one of our top recruiting classes at Southwestern."

The lone transfer of the group, and also the most recent signee, is Brett Bates, who will be joining the Lady Builders after two seasons at Oklahoma City University. A point guard who was an all-state player at Hobart High School, Bates helped OCU to a 32-4 record and a berth in the NAIA Division I national tournament this past season by shooting 41 percent from the three-point line and hitting 74 percent of her free throw attempts.

In high school, the 5-6 Bates was recognized as one of the top players in Oklahoma, averaging 20.4 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game as a senior.

The lone non-Oklahoman in the out-of-state signing group is 6-0 Zefiryn Bryan from Delphos, OH. Capable of playing numerous positions on the court, Bryan led Delphos St. John's High School to an outstanding season, averaging 15.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game.

She was named to the All-Ohio first team, was the Northwest Ohio District Player of the Year, and was honored as the MAC Player of the Year.

"We spent a lot of time recruiting Zefiryn after I first saw her in the Top 64 Showcase in Columbus in October," said SC Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Jack McNickle. "She had an outstanding high school career and was recruited by a large number of colleges. We are extremely excited that she chose to further her career as a Lady Builder. We have been fortunate to bring in some excellent players from Ohio in the last few years, and we believe Zefiryn will continue that tradition."

The seven incoming Oklahoma freshmen include 5-10 Taylor Posey from Wayne, 5-7 Kayla Thomas from Harrah, 5-8 Jamie Zoschak from Hinton, 5-10 Courtney Watson from Commerce, 5-10 Hayley Fort from Stillwater, 5-7 Robbi Dawn Lee from Noble and 5-9 Malynn Sheets from Tonkawa.

Posey was an All-Stater and was selected to play in the OGBCA all-state game after averaging 23 points per game and leading Wayne to its best season ever. She was also named to the Little All-City team in Oklahoma City, was a McDonald's All-American honorable mention selection, and was chosen as the Female Athlete of the Year in Oklahoma's Region 5. In the OGBCA all-state game in Weatherford in June, she was her team's leading scorer.

Thomas helped Harrah, one of Oklahoma's traditional powerhouse programs, to a runnerup finish in the Class 4A state tournament and was named to the all-state tournament team. A guard/forward who averaged just over 10 points and five rebounds per game, she joined Posey on the Little All-City team and was named Most Valuable Player of the Harrah Panther Classic as a senior.

Zoschak, who played post at Hinton early in her prep career before moving to the perimeter her last two seasons, was a prolific and consistent scorer, averaging over 19 points per game in each of the last two years. As a senior, she also averaged seven rebounds ,five assists and four steals per game. Named to several all-tournament teams in her senior season, she is also a starting guard for the Edmond Sparks AAU team, which recently won the championship of the 11-12 grade division of the Newton Summer Kickoff MAYB Tournament.

Watson scored 16.8 points and grabbed 8.6 rebounds per game at Commerce High School as a senior, playing primarily as a forward but also seeing some action at the big guard position. She was chosen as her team's Most Valuable Player, was the MVP in the Lake ‘O Cherokees tournament, and was a two-time all-conference selection.

Fort, who also starred in tennis at Stillwater High School, was a three-year member of the varsity basketball team and a starting forward her last two years. An outstanding student, she was an Academic All-State basketball player her last two years.

Lee averaged 10 points and 3 assists per game at Noble High School, where she was the starting point guard the last two seasons. She was named her team's MVP her senior year, and was also a three-time camp all-star selection at the Oral Roberts University basketball camp.

From Tonkawa, Sheets played for the Saints in a home-school basketball league, averaging 15 points and 19 rebounds per game as a senior. She was named to the all-tournament team in Harvest Hills, CA, for three straight years, and to the all-tournament squad at the Oklahoma City Invitational Tournament as a senior.

Prior to their senior seasons, Fort, Lee and Sheets all played together on the Sports City U. AAU team from Oklahoma City.