Samantha Heck

Samantha Heck never won a championship during her four seasons on the UE women’s basketball team, but the Missouri native finished her amateur career with a title while representing the United States.

Heck tallied 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and a steal Monday in Dong Xiang, China, as the NetScouts U.S. All-Stars knocked off the home nation by a 66-61 score. That victory gave the U.S. a 7-2 record on its nine-game, three-city Chinese tour and the best record among the four nations participating.

Australia and China both went 5-4, while Brazil finished a distant fourth at 1-8.

Heck’s team included a pair of fellow Missouri Valley Conference standouts. Northern Iowa’s Jacqui Kalin scored 11 points and Illinois State’s Jamie Russell 10 in the final game, played in front of an announced 6,500 partisan Chinese fans in Dong Xiang Arena.

On top of representing the U.S., the NetScouts experience provides senior women’s basketball players a stage to perform in front of scouts in hopes of launching professional careers, often overseas.

Other stories on Heck’s NetScouts foreign tour:
May 10: Heck delivering consistent performances on all-star team
April 28: Heck wants to leverage China trip to pro career
April 28: Heck heading to China with all-star team

Sam Heck has stayed true to form, continuing to hit free throws on a foreign tour with a United States all-star team. Photo by NetScouts Basketball.

Teams from the United States and China are both 4-2 heading into the third and final leg of a foreign women’s basketball tour.

UE senior Samantha Heck is very much a part of it.

The Missouri native most recently scored five points and tallied seven rebounds for the U.S. NetScouts all-star team Thursday in its 66-53 loss to China — not her strongest effort but a consistent one nonetheless as she’s averaged 4.3 points and 5.3 boards through six games.

The Aces’ top scorer and second-leading rebounder a season ago, Heck notched 12 and seven in Wednesday’s victory over Brazil. An Australian team also participates in the nine-game, three-city tour in China that wraps up this weekend in southeastern city Nanchang.

Heck’s hope — and that of a few familiar Missouri Valley Conference faces, Illinois State’s Jamie Russell and Northern Iowa’s Jacqui Kalin — is that the national team experience will translate into a professional career.

Friday is a designated travel day for the U.S. before rematches Saturday (against Brazil), Sunday (Australia) and Monday (China) finish the tour.

Other stories on Heck’s NetScouts foreign tour:
April 28: Heck wants to leverage China trip to pro career
April 28: Heck heading to China with all-star team

Samantha Heck

A week from today, UE senior Samantha Heck won’t be walking at her graduation.

But that’s a good thing, and she’s still graduating.

Heck will instead continue her basketball career with the NetScouts USA Women’s Basketball All-Stars, a team of college senior players who will tour China.

The NetScouts team leaves Monday, starts competition Friday and will play three games in three Chinese cities – the coastal town of Xiamen, Ganzhou and Nanchang — in a tour that runs through May 13.

NetScouts forms a team annually that consists of players who claimed all-conference honors in their respective leagues, and many go on to play professionally overseas following the foreign trip. Familiar faces joining Heck are Northern Iowa’s Jacqui Kalin and Illinois State’s Jamie Russell, both from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Heck, a 6-foot-2 center, averaged a team-high 14.6 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Evansville last season. She went out with her best effort, notching career highs in points (29) and rebounds (16) as the Aces fell to Southern Illinois at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

I’ll have more on Heck’s foreign tour in Monday’s paper. Here’s some of what the Auxvasse, Mo., native thought about the trip with some input from UE coach Oties Epps:

On missing her graduation: “College graduation doesn’t sound very appealing,” Heck said. “It’s just sitting around for hours. China seems a lot better.”

Heck on never having left the country before: “It is kind of scary. I’m not very keen on flying. It should be interesting. And I’m very picky with my food.”

On representing her country: “I don’t think it’s really hit me that I’m going to do that yet,” she said. “I think when I put on the jersey though it’s going to feel amazing having that red, white and blue for the USA.”

Epps talks how this came together: “We just got a call while we were at the Final Four from the director of the program. He said he was interested in Sam. We quickly notified Sam. Also, some of the names from other players on the team were from the league, so I wanted to make sure – called the UNI coach – to make sure it’s legit. A lot of people do scams and try to get money from them. We found out it was legit and got excited from that point.”

Epps on the what it could mean for Heck’s basketball future: “There’s going to be opportunities for these kids to play well and showcase themselves, because there will be European team scouts over there watching. Given our setup and situation here, we ran a lot of things for her or through her so she was getting the ball and getting touches. As a 6-2 player, there aren’t many players who can post, shoot and handle.

“She’s got to assert herself and show those things, because I don’t think the coach on this team is going to say, ‘Hey Sam, you’re a really good player. We need you to do this, that and the other.’ I think it’s just expected.”

Added Heck: “I kind of worry about it just because it’s not the kind of person I am, but this year the coaches demanded more out of me, so I think I’m capable.”

UE women’s coach Oties Epps inked a six-player 2013 class that the Aces’ athletic department will make official this week. Photo by Erin McCracken / C&P

Hamilton Heights (Ind.) High School guard Dakota Weatherford and Inkster (Mich.) High School guard Paris McLeod signed binding letters of intent with UE this week and will enter the program as freshmen this fall.

Coach Oties Epps announced Weatherford’s signing today and will do the same for McLeod when all paperwork is processed. The frontcourt duo officially rounds out the Aces’ 2013 recruiting class along with Brown County forward Sasha Robinson, Pendleton Heights forward Kenzie Gustin, Riverton Parke guard Sara Dickey and Holmen (Wis.) forward Caitlyn Russell.

More about both guards:

—After leading Hamilton Heights to the state finals this past season, Weatherford will play with the Indiana All-Stars this summer. She’s a 5-foot-5 speedster who likes to score in transition.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Dakota and her family to our program,” coach Oties Epps state Thursday. “Dakota has had a very accomplished senior year and we expect her to be a combo guard for us. She is an amazing on-ball defender and her quickness and tenacity to compete will be a great asset to our program. She is perhaps the fastest player I’ve seen with the ball in their hands. We expect Dakota to have an immediate impact on our program.”

Weatherford averaged 19.5 points, 7.4 steals, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as  Hamilton Heights made its first ever IHSAA State Championship finals appearance in boys or girls basketball.

She only visited campus twice, as coaches mostly came to see Weatherford watch games before committing.

“I feel like I’ve known them forever,” she said of UE’s coaching staff. “I feel like I’m officially welcomed into the family. I’m an Ace now, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Weatherford’s 198 steals were No. 1 among all girls’ players in Indiana last season. She also shot 47 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and 77 percent from the free throw line.

“I used to score mostly on offensive breaks from defense — turning transitions into offense,” Weatherford said. “But I’ve definitely improved on my jump shot to help in half-court offense, and my free-throw percentages have gone up as well.

—McLeod’s Inkster team went 19-0 during the regular season before losing to Michigan’s third-ranked team in the tournament. Eleven Inkster players went on to play Division I ball in the two graduating classes ahead of her.

“I think the one thing Paris learned from those teams was how to practice,” said Inkster coach Dwayne Scott. “I think that’s very important, and it’s what she tried to carry over to the kids we have now.”

McLeod averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 assists and 5.1 steals per game as a senior while earning Detroit News Dream Team, first team all-metro, Detroit Free Press All-State Second Team and first-team all-area recognition.

Delaware State, Canisius, South Carolina State and Winthrop also recruited McLeod, Scott said. In all, McLeod played on high school teams that won three district championships, three regional championships and a state title.

The undefeated regular season this past year marked Inkster’s first for either the boys’ or girls’ programs.

“I got a call from (Epps) one day,” Scott said. “He said he was looking for a kid who could change their program. I told him I had a kid who could get it done on both ends of the court with a lot of energy – a kid that would not mind being pushed – and was used to winning. And he thought that was huge.”

Katlyn Gilbert

What did Indianapolis seventh grader Katlyn Gilbert’s parents think about her committing to the UE women’s basketball team this early?

Well, I tried to ask and didn’t get a call back earlier this week.

But late Friday, Gilbert’s Best Choice Academy AAU team sent along an official release confirming her commitment to UE. It included this joint statement from parents Marlon and Stephanie:

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our daughter and we are very appreciative for the opportunity given by the University of Evansville and Coach (Oties) Epps,” it reads. “We are very thankful for Best Choice Basketball Academy for giving Katlyn a great platform to become a good Christian Basketball player. Best Choice is the best program that we have been around. They emphasize development first and produce winners in the process. The program is about the players not the club director or coaching staff and they make it affordable to families.”

So the parents acknowledge it. This is a real thing.

Gilbert’s Best Choice club has a pedigree that includes two AAU State titles and four national AAU final fours. Gilbert attends Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis where she also plays volleyball and runs track.

(Stephanie Roach, Heritage Christian’s junior varsity coach, talked further about her daughter’s commitment with the Indianapolis Star.)

The 5-foot-9 shooting guard gained notoriety through a pair of camps within the past year: the Midwest Recruiting Report Junior Phenom Camp and Junior All-American Camp, where she was named an all-star.

“Gilbert is a true floor general,” wrote the Midwest Recruiting Report. “She looks to get her teammates involved and knows what she needs to do to make that happen. Handles the rock extremely well and rarely, if ever turns it over. Defensively, she plays her heart out every possession and has a very good understanding of team defensive principles. Was extremely versatile this weekend, playing the 1-5, and had no trouble guarding the post. Gilbert will be on the scene for years to come.”

Gilbert can sign a binding letter of intent with the Aces in November of 2017 before her high school graduation in the spring of 2018.

She is, of course, UE’s first 2018 commitment. Nationally, no recruiting sites list any others for that class.

The upcoming NCAA signing period for current high school seniors — it starts April 17 — won’t concern UE’s latest women’s basketball verbal commit.

Neither will next year’s signing period, or the one after that, or the one after that.

Though Katlyn Gilbert is just in seventh grade, she pledged to the Aces over the weekend. The 5-foot-9 shooting guard plays AAU ball for the Best Choice Lady Eagles in Indianapolis.

Her team’s Twitter account originally announced the news on Sunday.

Congrats to Katlyn Gilbert #BestChoice18 Verbally committed to University of Evansville @wbbswoosh @espn_womenhoop @espnw @kyleneddenriep

— BestChoiceBasketball (@BestChoiceIndy) April 7, 2013

Back in September 2012, Gilbert attended a Junior All-American camp, where she earned all-star recognition among seventh graders attending.

“Though she may develop into a point guard, she was at her best at the camp as an off guard –playing without the ball—looking for her shot which shows good form,” the camp’s breakdown reads. “Her long legs allowed her to run well on the wing filling the lane on breaks.”

Gilbert can sign a binding letter of intent with the Aces in November of 2017 before her high school graduation in the spring of 2018.

Recruiting student-athletes this early isn’t unprecedented — Alabama football coaches made national news in February after offering an eighth grader — but a lot can and will change between now and 2018.

Gilbert’s decision had UE coach Oties Epps fired up nonetheless.

Just landed a verbal commitment that will change everything!! #DanceFever #TheRiseOfTheAces

— Oties Epps (@CoachEppsUE) April 7, 2013

Khristian Hart

It’s been almost 50 days since Khristian Hart, then the leading scorer for the UE women’s basketball team, tore her anterior cruciate ligament and ended her sophomore season early.

Hart tweeted Wednesday: “What’s considered doing too much on a reconstructed ACL almost three weeks out? I need answers.”

Yes, the Harrison High School graduate can’t wait to get back on the court.

Hart’s ailment was one of many this season that transformed the Aces from Missouri Valley championship contenders in January to the league’s No. 7 seed at the conference tournament, where they fell to 10th-seeded Southern Illinois in the first round.

Still, UE saw gains, specifically in an inexperienced backcourt. After Hart went down injured, sophomore guard Kat Taylor (15 points versus Northern Iowa) and freshman guard Laura Friday (14 points versus Missouri State) both set new career highs.

“I think it made us better not having K Hart,” coach Oties Epps said recently. “Some kids had to step up and be more of a scorer for us or be more of a distributor for us. It took time for certain kids to do those things, but I’m hoping it gave them that confidence in having a larger role that they had and that will carry over into the postseason.”

Hart’s game developed in 19 games this year. She started as a spot-up shooter but, by the time she was injured, she regularly drove the lane and got to the free throw line.

The redshirt sophomore, who averaged 13.6 points per game, had a successful surgery to repair her ACL earlier this month.

“We haven’t really talked much about a timeline for her to be back,” Epps said. “We just want her to do her rehab, and when she’s 100 percent physically and mentally, where she can step out there and compete and work on the things we need her to do without having any doubts about her knee, then that’s when we’re going to get her out there. We don’t know when that is, but she has a great attitude.

“She’s been through two other major surgeries prior to her knee. She came back from those surgeries better than before, so mentally she knows she can get through this — maybe even picking up where she left off would be great as well.”

The seventh-seeded UE women open Missouri Valley Conference tournament play Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. tip against 10th-seeded Southern Illinois at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

Refresh for updates or follow on Twitter (@ECP_Lintner) throughout the game.

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Samantha Heck

For the first time since 2010, UE’s women’s basketball team received all-Missouri Valley Conference recognition, the league announced Wednesday.

Senior Samantha Heck earned a spot on the all-MVC second team, and sophomore Mallory Ladd is honorable mention, marking the first all-conference selections for the Aces since Amy Gallagher made honorable mention three years ago.

“It means a lot for us,” said coach Oties Epps. “We’re in our second year with the program. I think from game to game, we’ve shown improvement. We have the opportunity to double our win total from overall last year. We won two conference games last year. We’ve won seven this year. And they’re both a big part of that.”

The teams are voted on by a combination of coaches, sports information directors and media. More speciality teams, such player and coach of the year, will be announced at this week’s MVC tournament.

Heck enters postseason play leading UE in scoring (14.1 points per game) and makes a team-high 48.9 percent of her shots. The Missouri native also earned her first MVC player of the week honor on Monday.

Ladd, a Memorial High School graduate, made her mark quickly since becoming eligible in December following her transfer from Valparaiso. She averages 10.9 points and 8.7 rebounds a game, plus is on pace to break the program’s free throw record while sitting at 94.7 percent for the season.

“Mallory — just her sheer will to compete — she’s a winner in the classroom and in the locker room. You’ve got to have those kind of kids,” Epps said. “And then Samantha Heck, when I first got the job here, you could see right away a skill set for a 6-2 kid you don’t see a whole lot.

“They’ve allowed us to coach them. We’ve gotten a lot out of them. We’re only in the situation with our program right now because of their sacrifice and selflessness and their ability to hold their teammates accountable.”

Mallory Ladd

Coach Oties Epps hadn’t talked to his UE women’s basketball training staff as of this guess, but the Aces coach suggested Mallory Ladd will play at about 50 percent at this week’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

After spraining her ankle in practice last week, the sophomore Ladd missed both games — a loss to Creighton and win over Drake — in UE’s latest road swing to finish the regular season.

“We’ll play her in the tournament. She won’t start,” Epps said. “She’s got so much heart and desire. She’ll go out and give it everything she has.”

Ladd did travel with the team but wore a boot on the injured left leg on the sidelines of the Knapp Center on Saturday. The Aces snapped a seven-game losing streak without the team’s top newcomer, who averages 10.9 points and 8.7 rebounds since becoming eligible in December following a transfer from Valparaiso a year ago.

Ladd will be the eighth available player — not including freshman Michaela Prough, who’s dealing with back troubles of her own — when fourth-seeded UE plays 10th-seeded Southern Illinois at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

The former runner up for Indiana’s Miss Basketball as a senior at Memorial High School had this to say about the injury last week: “(I’m) fefinitely playing through it. I want to be ready for tournament time for sure because that’s the most important thing. I’d do anything to get back out there.”