Shine faced some stiff competition before UF
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 | Women's Basketball, Men's Golf, Scott Carter
In writing a story on UF freshman basketball player Brittany Shine, I gave Michele Massari a call.
Massari coached Shine for two seasons at Sacramento (Calif.) High, where Shine led the Dragons to the Northern California Division III championship game a season ago. The championship game was played at ARCO Arena, home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.
Shine's team lost that day to Stockton St. Mary's, ranked No. 1 in the final USA Today girls basketball poll last season.
Shine is still trying to make her mark as a freshman at UF, but her background bodes well for her future.
In doing research, I discovered the Sacramento area produced an unusually large quantity of Division I women's basketball talent last season.
Duke's Chelsea Gray (Stockton St. Mary's), Stanford's Sara James (Oakridge), Oregon's Ariel Thomas (Sacramento McClatchy), Arizona's Erica Barnes (Sacramento Rosemont) and Cal's Afure Jemerigbe (Stockton St. Mary's) all played in the area.
Besides Shine, two Sacramento High players drew a lot of Division I offers. Forward Kyra Dunn signed with Pittsburgh and Katrina Salinas signed with Central Arizona College. Tennessee redshirt junior Vicki Baugh is also a Sacramento High product.
“That was a special year,'' Massari said of the 2010 class. “Northern California has some really nice players. We faced some steep competition.''
Shine stood out in the crowd, named the Sacramento Bee's Player of the Year despite the stiff competition for the award.
Shine's cousin, Josiah Turner, was named the Bee's Boys Player of the Year. Turner, a senior point guard, has signed with Arizona. He also considered Kansas, UCLA, Oregon and Florida International.
