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Lanisha Butler, a nationally-ranked point guard out of New York City, has signed with the Georgia Tech women's basketball team. The announcement came a week ago as the Lady Yellow Jackets continue their rebuilding process for next year. Butler figures to be the central figure in that process as she shattered the all-time prep scoring record for New York City, male or female, with 3,127 points. The record was previously held by legend Kenny Anderson who spent two seasons here dazzling the crowd at Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum before moving on to the NBA.
Butler spent five varsity seasons at Riverdale Country High School in the Bronx starting her career in the eighth grade. Before that, she had won the All-American award at age 11 in a national tournament in Utah which garnered her a spot in SLAM! magazine. The magazine raved about her then, and she has not disappointed, leading Riverdale to the New York City City Class D Federation title last season. Butler was also a USA TODAY Super 25 player which places her in the company of several Tech athletes including Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury, Dion Glover, and punter Rodney Williams. She is rated as being very quick, ambidextrous, and most importantly a scorer, something the Tech team needs when the baskets just aren't dropping, which is what killed the team last year as the Jackets would go on dry spells of five to ten minutes. Comparisons to Tech great and New York Liberty guard Kisha Ford will no doubt come, but Butler will have to improve her jump shot and court savvy to reach that level.
Ironically, the 5'8" Butler almost did not make it here as she felt she was ready for the WNBA or ABL, wanting to jump directly to the professional ranks. However, unlike the NBA, women pro leagues do not allow players to go make themselves eligible for the draft early, a decision that has not sat well with Butler and her family. She made her feelings known at the request of ESPN Sportszone, where she wrote an article making a case for women being allowed to leave earlyfor the pros (http://espnet.sportszone.com/wpb/features). The article shows Butler's diverse abilities: she strives to be journalist after basketball, models on a regular basis, and has been featured in popular VIBE and New York magazines.
Fortunately, she will be playing for Tech for at least one year as she attempts to start a female "Point Guard U" here at Tech. Butler has mentioned that she wants to set a standard like former male point guards Mark Price, Kenny Anderson, Travis Best, and Stephon Marbury.
Hopefully Butler can come in and blend with the great young players that Tech already has including Regina Tate, Candice McCallum, Betsy Foy, and Kenya Williams from last year as the team hopes to improve on last season's disappointing record. It all starts with the point guard, and if the past is any indication, Butler will have Tech back in the NCAA tournament.
Also joining next year's squad is 5'8" guard Millie Martinez. Tabbed as one of the best players in the state of Michigan, she also carries a 3.9 GPA in high school. She averaged 26.6 points per game in leading Imlay City High School to a division Championship.Martinez was third in balloting for Miss Basketball in the state.
Tech has now signed four players for the upcoming season. The other two are guards Ashley Ebert guard/forward Lindsey Aves.