During her tenure as coach of the Penn State women's basketball team, Coquese Washington has had mostly guard-oriented teams.
But things might be changing after two seasons as Washington added two forwards in her latest recruiting class and announced last week that forward Mia Nickson will join the team as a transfer from Boston College.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Ashburn, Va., was recruited by the Lady Lions during her senior year of high school at Notre Dame Academy. A Sporting News preseason All-American, Nickson finished her high school career ranked in the ESPN High Elite 25 Girls Basketball rankings and was ranked No. 67 in the nation by the recruiting service HoopGirlz. As a senior, she was part of the No. 6 high school team in the country when she decided to sign with the Eagles instead of Penn State.
During her one season at Boston College, Nickson struggled to find playing time. Despite appearing in 28 games, she played only 7.3 minutes per game, averaging 1.6 points and two rebounds. She scored a season-high seven points against Wake Forest in January and played a season-high 19 minutes against Dartmouth in December.
Washington signed nationally-ranked center Nikki Greene and Fort Hill, Pa., product Marisa Wolfe to letters of intent early last season to replace Rashida Mark, who graduated after the end of this season and Meredith Monroe, who will graduate after next season.
Nickson will be ineligible to play this year, but will have three years of eligibility starting in the 2010-11 season, where she will join a frontcourt that could potentially feature sophomores Greene and Wolfe, and seniors Janessa Wolff, Julia Trogele and Evelyn Lewis.
