"I was mad that I missed the one," said the 6-foot-5 post from Gurnee, Ill. "At least I made the three."

Ranked 27th in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com, Boothe reacted similarly to news she received from her principal at Warren Township High School: She has been accepted into Stanford.

Sarah Boothe

The Cardinal are among six schools Boothe is strongly considering. The others are DePaul, Illinois, Notre Dame, Purdue and Wisconsin. Connecticut, Michigan State, Northwestern and Old Dominion had been on her list previously.

Gaining acceptance into Stanford, Boothe said, "Makes my decision harder. I have a lot of thinking to do."

Heather Buck of Stonington, Conn., is another top post prospect with Stanford on her list and much to contemplate. Her mother told HoopGurlz.com reports that Buck had cut her college finalists to three are inaccurate and that she will use this mid-July hiatus to mull things further. She also said Buck has not completed her Stanford application.

Ranked 23rd overall in 2008 by HoopGurlz, Buck has previously said she is considering Boston College, Connecticut, George Washington, Holy Cross, Maryland and Notre Dame in addition to Stanford.

Boothe's successful Stanford application had to have visions of an interchangeable, high-low pairing with Jayne Appel, the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, dancing in the heads of the Cardinal coaching staff. Boothe does not have a lot of foot speed, but she has excellent footwork and fundamentals, is fantastic at creating space on the catch, is a very good passer and nails the elbow jumper.

Boothe said she has taken unofficial visits to all of her final schools and may take officials, if her indecision continues.

"I'm not good at decisions," she said. "I'm always second-guessing myself."

RIM SHOTS
Easily the most impressive offensive burst of the past week came courtesy of a big-time 2009 prospect who has yet to play her first minute of high-school ball in the U.S. Inga Orekhova, who is from Austria, knocked down four straight three-pointers during a 2 1/2-minute span for San Diego-based EBO on Friday night. She was fouled on the fourth and completed the four-point play, giving her 13 points in about 150 seconds. Orekhova, who is 6-3 and starts at the Bishop School in La Jolla, Calif., this fall, is probably an even better passer than she is a shooter. ... Justine Raterman, the 6-1 forward out of Branford, Ohio, is a prospect we like, more and more, every time we see her. She can hold her own inside, nail the perimeter shot, is more than competant on the dribble and pass, and is a smart defender. She says she is considering Bowling Green, Florida State, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan State and Vanderbilt. After a stellar first half of July, look for her options to expand

Inga Orekhova

greatly. Raterman plans to take all five of her official visits before making a commitment. ... Kathleen Scheer, ranked No. 27 overall by HoopGurlz.com, is another prospect we're waiting to blow up. She's a legit 6-2 guard who has a strong jumper and inside game, can make the spectacular and routine passes, and is very strong on the dribble. She says she is taking a close look at Iowa State. ... Jocelyn Bailey, the ultra-athletic 6-footer out of District Heights, Md., is trying to decide between Delaware and Rutgers. ... One of the more stunning developments at the adidas 17U nationals was consecutive losses for FBC Blue, which went unbeaten all last season. FBC was knocked out of the brackets by eventual champion Exodus NYC, then was dumped by Cincinnati's Finest. Ironically, both lost narrow decisions to FBC at the Deep South Classic. FBC stars Jasmine Dixon and Nikki Speed both play for reigining California state-champion, high-school teams and likely had never lost two straight before in their careers. ... Three good looking Georgia Tech commits were on display this past week, serving notice that coach MaChelle Joseph has a strong encore for last year's nationally ranked signing class. Mo Bennett, 5-10, out of Statesboro, Ga., is a strong combo guard; Chelsea Riggins, 6-2, out of Lauderhill, Fla., is a long and strong forward with skills, and Nisha Adams, 6-4, out of Hinesville, Ga., needs some bulking up but is an athletic project in the post. ... There can't be any debate that the best 5-1 guard in the country is D'Frantz Smart of Whitney Young High in Chicago, Ill. From her footspeed to her dribble moves, she is just bottled lightning.

Nikki Speed of FBC Blue

Brogan Berry of the Dayton Lady Hoopstars

Galinda Lewis of the Georgia Hoopstars battles Kelli Thompson of
the Cal Sparks

Click Here

Glenn Nelson is the publisher and founder of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

---