Lady Razorbacks gain pledge

LITTLE ROCK — California forward Jamesha Townsend said she'll play basketball for Arkansas, becoming the Lady Razorbacks' fourth oral commitment for the 2008 class.

Townsend, 6-1, averaged 10 points and seven rebounds last year at La Jolla Country Day High School in San Diego. She will play her senior year at Chula Vista Bonita Vista and plans to sign during the early period, which runs Nov. 14-21.

Townsend said Arkansas' emphasis on education made a favorable impression.

"My main concern isn't basketball, it's about graduating," said Townsend, who took an official visit to Arkansas during the Sept. 22 weekend. "Every single person I talked to at the university, like an athlete or someonein the administration, they were telling me I was going to graduate. Everyone will do whatever they can do to help you [graduate].

"I was thinking that's what I need. I'm trying to get a degree."

Townsend said she received more than 100 scholarship offers before narrowing her list to Arkansas, Temple, Arizona and Howard.

Bret McCormick of All-Star Girls Report rates Townsend as the No. 165 player in the nation

"She's really athletic, really long," McCormick said. "She has an inside-outside game but doesn't stretch it to the threepoint range, more of a midrange. She has a good upside and can get better."

Townsend said she related well with the Lady Razorbacks'coaching staff.

"I love them," she said. "Coach [Tom] Collen is awesome. I can't wait to get down there because I know he's going to do great. Coach [Zenarae Antoine] is great. She's good with my family. I don't have to talk to her just about basketball. I can talk about what I'm going to wear to the dance or something like that."

Both of Townsend's parents are from Eudora. Her father, James, left Arkansas to join the Navy after graduating from high school in 1980. She also has a sister attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock.

Arkansas also has oral commitments from Carlisle combination guard Julie Inman, 5-9; Hoover, Ala., shooting guard Lyndsay Harris, 5-9; and Coldwater, Miss., center Ashley Daniels, 6-1.