UK women on short list for top-20 prospect

By Jennifer Smith / jsmith3@herald-leader.com

This could be an important weekend for Coach Matthew Mitchell and the Kentucky women's basketball team with a recruit ranked among the nation's top 20 visiting campus.

Ronika Ransford, a 5-foot-7 combination guard out of Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., is already on campus, according to her AAU coach, Tom Insell.

One recruiting service, the All-Star Girls Report, has Ransford ranked as the No. 11 player in the country. ESPN's HoopGurlz has her ranked No. 21 and as the seventh-best point guard in the nation.

Insell not only confirmed that Ransford will be on campus this weekend, but he also added that she's narrowed her final list to Kentucky and Southeastern Conference foe Georgia.

"She'll end up at one of those two places," Insell said. Ransford previously had an expanded list that included California, Rutgers, Texas, Duke and Louisville.

"She seems real comfortable with the Kentucky staff," he said. "She's more comfortable with Kentucky than Georgia. Now, can I say she's gonna go to Kentucky? No. You never know about a kid."

Ransford's comfort level is helped by UK's signing of her high school teammates Jeniece Johnson and Bernisha Pinkett. Both players have deferred their enrollment until spring.

Ransford has other connections to UK, including Insell. The Tennessee Flight coach is the brother of UK assistant coach Matt Insell.

Also, UK commitment Sarah Beth Barnette of Lexington Christian played on Ransford's team this summer.

"She's better than anyone (Kentucky) had last year," Tom Insell said of Ransford. "Her and (UK freshman) Adia Mathies are just a little bit better. That's how good she is."

Postell update

Porsha Postell, the guard who was dismissed from Kentucky's team before the school year started, just wasn't ready for the college experience, her uncle told her hometown newspaper.

"Woodlands High School and the University of Kentucky did everything possible to make Porsha's college career successful," James Robinson told the Journal News of White Plains, N.Y. "She just wasn't prepared for that experience."

Robinson, who helped Postell in her recruiting process, said the guard returned home this summer but was given a second opportunity by UK before ultimately being dismissed.

"She had another chance," Robinson said. "We thought she had made the adjustment, but she just wasn't prepared for it."