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Ex-Stebbins basketball star 'undecided' on college team

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By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 12:26 AM Saturday, January 7, 2012

All those women’s college basketball coaches who missed out on Ja’Monica Orton the first time around, get ready. You might get a second chance.

Orton, a Stebbins High School graduate averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds as a 6-foot-1 sophomore shooting guard at East Central Community College (Decatur, Miss.), might not be headed to the University of Mississippi, after all.

Orton is attending the junior college after being “stashed” there by Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner, who won the initial recruiting battle only to discover Orton would not be academically eligible right away. But there’s nothing in writing, and Orton can go wherever she chooses after graduating.

“I’m actually undecided as of right now,” Orton said Friday. “I still kind of want to go (to Ole Miss) and I still keep in contact with them, but I think I might want to move back closer to home and play ball. I’m leaving all my options open.”

That’s good news, potentially, for any number of schools, including perhaps Ohio State. Wright State and Akron also showed significant interest the first time.

Orton’s current team is 0-11 but she envisions better times ahead now that guard Xzandra Dowd is eligible. Orton sees the Louisiana-Monroe transfer as the Dwyane Wade to her LeBron James. They are roommates.

“We haven’t played together yet, but we feed off each other well in practice, so it’s like we’ve been playing together for a long time,” Orton said. “It’s just hard to play all the roles. With (Dowd) coming back, I’ll have help handling the ball and scoring.”

Meanwhile, ECCC coach Bill Smith, who says he lost two players to pregnancy this season and another to a “bad attitude,” wants what’s best for his leading scorer.

“I’ve kept her under wraps because (Ole Miss) put her here,” he said, “but I’ve already had a few schools call me.”

‘Big-time’ visit

No word yet from guard Geron Johnson (Dunbar) on where he intends to matriculate next, but a mid-December visit to Kansas for a game against Ohio State reportedly left him giddy.

“It was big-time!” Johnson, currently starring at Garden City (Kan.) Community College, told Theshiver.com, an independent website covering the Jayhawks. “A bunch of high-major players playing all on one court.”

After run-ins with the law in high school and at Chipola (Fla.) College, the sophomore is averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists at his new school. He continues to say Dayton is interested.

Campus tour

• Thursday’s decision by Michigan State DT Jerel Worthy (Wayne) to skip his senior season for the NFL went over well. Said MSU coach Mark Dantonio, “If a guy’s a No. 1 pick, then I think he should probably go. There’s not many professions where you can earn $10 million a year.”

• Samarie Walker (Chaminade Julienne), now eligible at Kentucky after her transfer from Connecticut last winter, paired eight points with seven rebounds in her first Southeastern Conference basketball game Sunday, a 59-56 win against Florida.

If you have information about an area athlete in college, please send an email to smcclelland @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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