November 13, 2009 Contact: Scott Jamison 352.395.5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SFC ATHLETICS
FIVE SAINTS SIGN WITH UPPER DIVISION SCHOOLS
Gainesville, FL – Wednesday officially started the NCAA early signing period and five Santa Fe student athletes made their decision on where they will spend the next two years going to school.
Three baseball players, catcher Brett Bozeman, outfielder Jardian Thomas and pitcher Morgan McKinney, all three Buchholz High School graduates, and two women’s basketball players, Huguette Yanga and Tracie Sneed, have settled on where they will play in 2010-11.
Bozeman, last year’s Mid-Florida Conference defensive player of the year and First Team MFC selection, will play next season for Southeastern Conference power Mississippi State University (Starkeville, MS). The Bulldogs, led by second year coach John Cohen, had an uncharacteristically down season last year, finishing 25-29 overall and 9-20 in the SEC.
Bozeman hit .317 in 2009 for SFC, with 14 doubles and 38 RBI, helping lead the Saints to the Junior College World Series. MSU Bulldogs assistant coach Lane Burroughs believes Bozeman could be a very
good player in the SEC, “Brett has a chance to become a dominant defensive force in the SEC,” said Burroughs. “He has tremendous receiving and throwing skills to go along with great leadership ability. Brett is a middle of the order hitter for one of the top junior college programs in the state of Florida.”
Thomas, a Second Team MFC selection in 2009, has signed with Florida Southern College (Lakeland, FL). The Moccasins are a storied Division II program that has won 26 National championships. Last season under first year head coach Jim Tyrrell, FSC finished 41-16 overall and 16-8 in the Sunshine State Conference.
In 2009, Thomas hit .377 in 38 games with 14 doubles, three homeruns and 25 RBI.
Morgan McKinney, a left-handed pitcher, has signed with the Western Carolina University Catamounts (Cullowhee, NC). The Catamounts are coached by third year man Bobby Moranda. Last season, WCU finished 35-22 overall and 19-10 in the Southern Conference.
As a freshman, McKinney pitched in 17 games as a reliever, going 2-1 with a 6.01 ERA and struck out more batters (27) than innings pitched (22.1). So far in the Fall, McKinney has been stellar, giving up only three hits through 17 innings pitched.
Women’s basketball had two players sign early, including First Team Mid-Florida Conference selection Tracie Sneed (Jacksonville, FL). Sneed signed her letter of intent and will attend Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA). GSU is led by 16 year head coach Lea Henry and went 12-18 overall last year and 4-14 in the Colonial Athletic Conference.
In 2008-09, Sneed played in 27 games and was second on the team in scoring with 12.7 ppg and first on the team with 33 three pointers.
Huguette Yanga (Cameroon, Africa) has signed with Georgia College and State University, a DII school in Milledgeville, GA. In 2008-09 GCSU finished 17-11 overall and 12-8 in the Peach Belt Conference under John Carrick, who is in his 27th season as the head coach.
As a reserve on the 2008-09 Saints team, Yanga averaged 1.7 ppg and 1.6 rebounds per game in 25 games.
For a complete schedule and more information, please visit www.sfcollege.edu/athletics.
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