UBAVE Heads North To Las Vegas



Cindy Russo from Florida International is one of the coaches interested in players from UBAVE Black. Photo by Alex Hernandez, FIU Athletics.

Charlie Harper’s program in San Antonio recently went through a cultural shift, with his top travel teams now using the moniker, UBAVE, rather than Lady Rohawks. UBAVE is an anachronism for “Using Basketball as A Vehicle for Education.” The members of the UBAVE Black squad, which will be heading to Las Vegas for the upcoming FILA Sixty-Four event, must meet certain academic criteria in order to earn a roster spot.

“We changed the name of the teams because we wanted to make it clear how important education is to our program,” Harper said.

The FILA Sixty-Four, which will include over 48 national teams, will be played at the Westin Lake Las Vegas from July 27-30. This is one part of a series of previews for the FILA Sixty-Four where we will highlight the outstanding programs who will be competing.

The UBAVE Black team is paced by a quartet of perimeter players, including Moriah Creswell (5-6, 2015), Talisha Presley (5-7, 2014), Kate McCullar (5-9, 2015)  and Dessiere Johnson (5-10, 2015). All four prospects have been getting attention from collegiate recruiters.

“They all have their own strengths,” explained Harper. “Moriah has great speed, and she is a good shooter. Talisha is a very, very good defensive player who can hit the three and attack the basket. Kate can do a little of everything — hit the three, rebound, handle the ball, and she has a great mid-range game. Dessiere is just an offensive juggernaut. No one can stay in front of her, she has NBA three-point range, and she has a nice floater.”