The Lady Phoenix program out of Winston-Salem, NC has a strong tradition, and Coach Delaney Rudd also believes the club has a bright future.
“When I think about this summer, the biggest thing is that we will have a lot of very good young talent,” the former Wake Forest standout said. “We have put a number of kids into major college programs over the past 10 years, and with the young players we have now I think we will continue that trend.
“This should be a good year because it’s always exciting to watching talented young players develop. We’re going to work hard, and we’re going to try to play against top competition.”
The Lady Phoenix will face that type of competition at the Raleigh Invitational on the weekend of April 22-24. The tournament will be managed and operated by the All Star Girls Report staff, and it will be run in conjunction with Insider Exposure and the Phoenix Express. The Raleigh Invitational will be played at Shaw University and other local facilities.
“The obvious thing about the Raleigh Invitational is that, because it’s an All Star Girls Report event, you know there are going to be college coaches. They always do a great job bringing in college coaches,” Rudd said. “When you get an opportunity to play in from of a lot of college coaches, you have to take it.”
Rudd’s program will be paced this summer by a pair of strong guards. Kelly Foster is a 5-9 sophomore, and Leah Church is a 5-8 junior.
“Kelly is a very athletic, very quick, very active player,” Rudd said. “She is tremendous in transition. In the half court, Kelly is a good three-point shooter and she attacks the rim very well.
“I really think that Leah is one of the best shooters in the country. She is really, really good from three-point range. She also has a high IQ for the game, and she plays very hard.”