MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—Bill Sullivan has two new players joining his women’s basketball team at Barry University for 2008-09. Mariesa Greene, a 6-0 post player, is a transfer from the University of Illinois, while Yvonne Houston is a 5-8 wing player from Miami’s Krop High School.
"We are very pleased to have both Mariesa and Yvonne. They are exceptional athletes, good students, and wonderful people with strong character. We expect both to be immediate impact-type players and we are privileged to add them to our Barry basketball family,” Sullivan said.
Greene spent the last three years with the NCAA Division I Illinois Illini where she competed in track and field. She had personal bests of 1.75 meters in the high jump and 39.38 meters in the javelin. As a high school player at Warren Central High in Indianapolis, Ind., she was named team MVP after leading the team in scoring and rebounding. As a senior in 2003-04, she led the Warriors to a 13-10 record, averaging 16.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals. She was named to Hoosier Basketball Magazine’s Top-40 high school players in Indiana. She moved to Indianapolis as a junior. Splitting time between Warren Central and Richmond (Va.) Senior High, she averaged 13.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists. She will have two years of eligibility left.
Houston, a freshman from Krop High, was selected 1st-team All-Dade County by the Miami Herald and 3rd-team All-State by the Florida High School Athletic Association. She led the Lightning to an 18-7 mark and the first round of the state playoffs, averaging 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game. Another outstanding all-around athlete, she also competed in track.
The Buccaneers, coming off an 18-11 campaign, have 10 letter winners returning in 2008-09, including All-Sunshine State Conference 2nd-team pick Princess Bailey who led the team in scoring (12.7), rebounding (7.2), steals (3.0) and blocks (1.1), point guard Lucy Martinez who led the team in assists (3.7) and long-range bomber Christina Thompson who set a school record with 67 made three-pointers.
