SAN ANTONIO – Head coach Jeff Dow from the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball program announced the signing of three freshmen - Raimi McCrary, Destiny Whitaker, and Mallory McQuietor - for the 2023-24 class.
"We're excited about this incoming recruiting class," Dow said. "We wanted to continue to add to our length on the perimeter and along our front line, and we were able to accomplish that. While we were impressed with each member of this class's athletic and basketball ability, we were equally impressed with their character and how well they have prepared themselves academically thus far to transition to the University of the Incarnate Word. Obviously, we place an emphasis on any recruit's basketball potential and academic background, but we really put a premium on doing our due diligence on their character to ensure they will be a good fit for the culture of our program. While we're excited about what these three young ladies will bring to the table on the court, we're confident they will help us continue to grow our program off the court as well."
Forward, McCrary, is coming from the northside of Texas out of Allen High School. In her 2021-22 junior season as a captain, McCrary led the team to a 22-16 record and a second-place finish in District 5-6A Championships. Currently, she's averaging 16 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high of five assists so far this season. She takes pride in being a leader on and off the court as a member of her high school's National Honor Society and is now a two-time Academic All-District Player. Impressively, McCrary finished her junior year with a 3.9 GPA.
"We had the opportunity to see this incoming recruiting class in a variety of settings from participating with their AAU teams to attending one of our Elite Camps from this past summer. We're extremely confident that each of them will fit in well with what we like to do offensively in terms of playing essentially with four guards and one forward. In Raimi and Destiny, we have signed two student-athletes that give us length defensively. They can play on the perimeter, space the floor with their 3-point shooting ability and drive it on occasion. They both also play with an element of physicality and toughness that will translate well to the college level. Mallory has a lot of upside with her athleticism, adding to her ability to play facing the basket and being a presence defensively. We feel like she has only scratched the surface as to the type of player she can become. All three of the recruits were ranked in the top 64 of Jason Key's final ranking for the Premier Basketball Report identifying the top prospects in the state of Texas. Each of these new signees has the potential to step in immediately and compete for playing time from day one."
Destiny Whitaker is a 5-foot-10 forward coming from Mansfield Summit High School. In her junior season at Mansfield Summitt, Whitaker led her team to a 23-12 record where they made it all the way to the reginal quarterfinals of the Texas UIL 5A Tournament. In that season, she averaged 8.2 points and four rebounds per game. Now in her senior year, Destiny's team has started off hot. In two of her last five games, she's posted two, twenty-point games scoring 22 and 23 points, respectively.
Mallory McQuietor is a 6-foot-1 forward coming from Keller, Texas. The Keller High School standout is coming off a great 2021-22 season. McQuietor took her team to a second place UIL 6A district finish with a 24-8 season record. The forward averaged six points a game to complement her well known 'cleaning up the boards' playing style. In addition to her fantastic season, McQuietor garnered second team all-district honors and was named to the UIL 4-6A Academic All-District team.
"It's a bonus that each of these young ladies have not only been prepared well by their high school programs, but also by playing for very competitive AAU programs. Raimi and Mallory were able to play together for Rich Anderson's Texas U program for several years and we were fortunate to see them play in the Dallas area and New Orleans in July. We had a chance to see Destiny at our Elite Camp in August, as well as in Dallas playing for Joey Simmons's Team Lex program. Ironically, she also attends the same high school that our current Cardinal, Destiny Terrell, played for."
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