Tampa Women’s Basketball Announces Two New Signees
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball staff has announced the signing of Nina Krstic and Britny Taylor to a National Letter of Intent (NLI). Krstic and Taylor will enroll at UT for the fall of 2011 semester and be eligible to play in 2011-12.
"We are very pleased to bring in such athletes to the Tampa program as they give us some depth in the guard spot that after losing some key seniors, we became thin at. We expect for both players to compete for playing time as they develop into the system," says head coach Tom Jessee.
A 5-foot-10 guard from Zadar, Croatia, Krstic attended The Rock School out of Gainesville, Fla., for head coach Fabian Chapov. The rookie hails from the same high school as present Spartan Greta Bartkute and will look to be an immediate contributor in the Tampa lineup.
"Nina is a tall guard that gives us the size that we were looking for in the guard position while also bringing a variety of skills. I am most impressed with her passing skills as she is a player that came from a team with a lot of talent. We look for Nina to come in and compete at the guard position as she develops as a student athlete," notes Jessee.
Krstic was a member of the 2011 National Championship team for division 1A and also tabbed a spot on the NACA all-tournament team. The Croatian native also landed a position on the S.I.A.A all-state team after her spectacular senior year performance.
Named The Rock School's 2010-11 Defensive Player of the Year, Krstic won the Croatian national championship with club team Zkk Zadar five years in a row (2004-09) while being named the most valuable player in several championships. She also tabbed a first place recognition in the Croatian world games with ZZK Zadar in 2008. The guard was a member of the Croatian national championship squad with Ekonomskom high school in 2005-06 while nabbing third place in the young Olympic games in Italy with her club team in 2007.
Taylor also joins the squad in fall of 2011 as a freshman from Coral Gables, Fla. The 5-foot-10 wing attended University School under head coach Greg Farias averaging 22.5 points per game and 11 rebounds per match as a senior. In high school, Taylor broke the record for the most points in a career at University School tallying 1,025.
"Britny is a very athletic guard that is also capable of stepping into the forward position. She is a slasher that can absolutely rebound the basketball and is someone who we expect to compete right away for playing time. Brinty slid under the radar until her senior year and became one of the better basketball players from the south," says Jessee.
A team MVP throughout all for years of high school, Taylor was a 3A first team all-state selection as a senior. The future Spartan also tabbed a Sun-Sentinel first team all-Broward and a Miami Herald first team all-Broward recognition as a senior. The guard also tabbed Sun-Sentinel second team all-Broward as a junior and was a Miami Herald honorable mention selection as a freshman. Taylor participated in the Florida vs. Georgia all-star game as well as the private vs. public all-star game.
The Spartans continue to compete in the Sunshine State Conference and on the national level as each year the team looks to progress under coach Jessee. Tampa has competed in the NCAA South Regional tournament for six-straight years and looks to carry on the tradition into the 2011-12 season.