Three members of the South Georgia Technical College 2020 – 2021 Lady Jets basketball team have already signed letters of intent to play basketball at the Division I level for the 2021 – 2022 season, announced South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.
I am very excited for each of these young ladies,” said Frey. “They have worked hard and done what they needed to do to move up to that next level. They have a great future ahead of them if they will continue to work hard in the classroom as well as on the court. I am expecting great things out of them this season and then looking forward to seeing them start the next chapter of their college career.”
Sophomore point guard Moe Shida from Hokkaido, Japan, has signed to play with New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Femme Sikuzani, a 6-foot-5 center from GOMA from the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be making the trek to the University of Texas in Austin for the 2021 – 2022 season and Hope Butera, a 6-foot-3 center from Kigali, Rwanda, has announced her intent to play at Florida International University in Miami, Florida next year.
Those three players are a large reason for why the World Exposure Report has listed the 2020 – 2021 Lady Jets as the 10th best team in its Top 25 Preseason NJCAA Division I women’s basketball poll. The Lady Jets will be leading on inside play and leadership from point guard Moe Shida to carry them.
Femme Sikuzani is currently ranked as the No. 1 junior college prospect, according to All Star Girls Report. She averaged 10.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last season as a freshman in just 16.7 minutes per game. She led the entire Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association in rebounds (345), blocks (46) and field goal percentage (.550).
“She is the inside presence that we need on both ends of the floor, and yet we feel like her full potential and upside is way ahead of her,” new University of Texas coach Vic Schaefer said in a statement. “With a chance to play three years at Texas, it’s very exciting to get a player of her caliber who averaged a double-double in junior college in as few as 16 minutes a game as a freshman.”
Sikuzani’s signing would put Texas one player over the NCAA maximum allowable limit of 15. However, it’s unclear how roster limits will be massaged after the pandemic when the NCAA has frozen all athletes’ eligibility for the upcoming season. Natural attrition also could play a factor as player’s battle for playing time. The University of Texas Horns have a full year to let the situation play out.
Moe Shida is only 5-foot-6 inches tall but even as a freshman she managed to log 14.4 minutes per game and played in 32 games. She averaged 3.3 points per game and hit 21.4 percent of her three point shots as well as 31.7 percent of her shots from the field. She also had 1.5 assists per game and averaged 1.3 rebounds per game. Her strength is getting up and down the floor and leading the team from the point guard position.
Hope Butera is the third SGTC Lady Jet to sign with a Division 1 college. She played in 31 games as a freshman at South Georgia Tech. She averaged 4.2 points per game. She posted 11.8 minutes of playing time per game as a freshman. She also had 3.8 rebounds per game in those 11 minutes.
“Each one of these young ladies are going to continue to improve. They have worked very hard during the off season and I could not be happier for them. We are expecting great things out of them when we take to the courts in January and I look forward to an exciting season,” said Coach Frey.
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets finished the 2019 – 2020 season at the top of their game and had the opportunity to make their fourth consecutive trip to the NJCAA National Tournament. However, the tournament was cancelled just days prior to the Lady Jets making their seventh appearance in the NJCAA national tournament since the program began in 2004 – 2005. They were ranked 11th in the nation going into the national tournament.
The Lady Jets were undefeated in the conference in 2019 – 2020 with a 17 – 0 record and a 30 – 2 overall record. This was only the second unbeaten conference season for Coach Frey and only the third in the history of the program. The Lady Jets won the GCAA conference title and Coach Frey was the GCAA Coach of the Year for the 6th straight year.
Coach Frey’s first trip to the NJCAA national tournament with the Lady Jets was in 2013 – 2014. They earned the right to go back in 2014 – 2015 and posted their first win in the NJCAA national tournament that year and finished in the Sweet Sixteen. The Lady Jets did not make the national tournament in 2015 – 2016, but they have been back for the past three years and qualified for the fourth year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the season. The Lady Jets went to the NJCAA National Tournament in Salina, Kansas under former head coach Brandon Harrell in 2009 – 2010.
The Lady Jets will kick off the 2020-2021 season in January with an abbreviated 22 game schedule against mostly conference teams.
Feme Sikuzani, a 6-foot-5 center from GOMA from the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be making the trek to the University of Texas in Austin for the 2021 – 2022 season and Hope Butera, a 6-foot-3 center from Kigali, Rwanda, has announced her intent to play at Florida International University in Miami, Florida next year.