With a mix of international flair and local talent, the Northwestern women’s basketball team announced the signing of three players Wednesday afternoon.
The Wildcats add Andrea Glasauer and Alex Mueller, who are both from Germany, and Breanne Smilie, who hails from Elk Grove.
“For this recruiting class we, as a staff, searched near and far,” NU coach June Olkowski said in a statement. “Being at Northwestern gives us that ability because of our academic reputation.”
Glasauer, a 6-foot-1 small forward from Freiburg, played for Club Freiburg and was named Germany’s 2001 Rookie of the Year. Her team won five German tournaments her junior year.
Glasauer also played in the European Championships on Germany’s under-16 and under-20 national teams.
Mueller, who is from Nordlingen, also brings international experience to NU.
The 5-foot-10 guard has been a member of the German Senior Women’s National team since 2001 and joined the Junior National Team in 1997.
“The blend of international experience Alex and Andrea bring from playing in the European Championships can only make us better,” Olkowski said in the statement.
Smilie joins former teammate sophomore Sarah Kwasinski on the NU roster. Both played together at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, where Smilie tallied 794 points in three years.
On the men’s side, NU still is waiting for a decision from St. John’s transfer Tim Doyle, who said he expects to choose between playing at NU or Dayton by the end of the week.
It had once been thought that Doyle would have the decision made by mid-May at the latest. But his admissions status at NU remains in the air, delaying the final word.
The small forward from Merrick, N.Y., said he sent his grades to NU on Tuesday. He also said he would be able to make a final decision by Friday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Doyle said he had not been told if he had been officially admitted by NU.
His father, Dan (who stands at 6-foot-8, 285 pounds), said he believes his 6-foot-4 son has chosen NU, but Tim maintained he was undecided.
NU has just one player committed to arrive on campus in the fall — Arizona center Vince Scott, who signed a letter of intent in November.
A commitment that comes either in the upcoming weeks or over the summer won’t become official until the athlete arrives on campus in the fall and enrolls in classes.
NU also cannot make any official announcements or statements on specific recruits who verbally commit, since that is a non-binding agreement.
Carmody still has four scholarships left at his disposal for next season. Should the Cats give out just two of them, it essentially would be a loss of a scholarship, since they only could give out only five for the 2004-05 season according to NCAA rules.