University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Inks Pair During November Early Signing Period
November 24, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass women's basketball head coach Marnie Dacko announced the signing of recruits Danielle Montgomery and Shakia Robinson on Monday. The duo inked National Letters of Intent to play for the Minutewomen during the November early signing period.
"This is an exciting recruiting class, " said Dacko. "These two players have the basketball skills and athletic ability to help us right away. Danielle and Shakia are both outgoing personalities and they fit in very well with the present members of our team. The UMass campus is an inviting environment and both players felt comfortable on their campus visits. Danielle has a strong interest in our sport management major; she had done her homework and knew our program was top-ranked in the nation."
Montgomery is a 5-8 guard out of Bluff City, Tenn., where she has helped Tennessee High School to Three Big 9 Conference Championships in her first three seasons and has been named the Tricitiessports.com Preseason Big 9 Player of the Year this fall as a senior.
A three-year captain, Montgomery was selected as the Northeast Tennessee Player of the Year by the Bristol Herald-Courier as a junior, while being tabbed All-Northeast Tennessee as a sophomore and as a junior by both the Bristol-Herald-Courier and the Johnson City Press. As a junior, Montgomery scored her 1,000th career point and averaged 16.4 points per-game, 2.5 steals per-game and 3.6 rebounds per-game on her way to first team All-Big 9 Conference and District 1-AAA All-Tournament Team honors. Montgomery was the District-1 AAA Tournament MVP as a sophomore and earned a spot on the Region-1 AAA All-Tournament Team as a freshman.
The daughter of Cathy and Daniel Montgomery, Danielle played AAU ball with the Nautilus Express out of Virginia, coached by former Memphis player Justin Wimmer.
"Danielle is a left-handed floor leader with a steady handle who has explosive potential on the offensive end," said Dacko. "She has excellent court awareness and is a good passer in transition. Danielle comes to us from Tennessee, a state that traditionally produces top-rated girls basketball players; while this is my first recruit from Tennessee, I certainly hope it is not my last."
Robinson is a 6-1 forward who hails from North Wales, Pa., and attends North Penn High School where she is coached by Maggie deMarteleire. As a junior, she averaged 17.2 points per game and 11.4 rebounds per game and was honored as the Suburban One League National Division MVP, was a first team all-league selection, while also being named a third team honoree by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Super "10" by The Intelligencer.
In her freshman and sophomore campaigns at Abington Friends School, she was a two-time first team all-league selection and scored a total of 749 points over her two seasons.
The daughter of David and Charlette Robinson, Shakia played AAU ball with the Philadelphia Belles and was coached by Kevin Lynch.
"Shakia is strong inside with good hands and is mobile in transition," said Dacko. "She is an aggressive rebounder with a blue collar work ethic. She has the same love of the game that current junior Kim Benton and recent graduate Pam Rosanio brought to UMass. Philadelphia is a talent rich city and we have had good fortune recruiting there."