Sophomore JeAnn Hiraldo of the Marshalltown Community College Women's Basketball team has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the William Penn University Statesmen for the 2016-17 season.
Hiraldo concluded her stellar career at MCC as one of the most prolific scorer's in program history this past season. Hiraldo scored 778 career points after leading the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) in scoring with a 17.5 average in her sophomore season. Hiraldo also led the conference with 9.1 rebounds per game and 2.1 blocks per game. For her efforts, Hiraldo earned First-Team All-Region XI honors
MCC head coach Steve Garber is proud to see Hiraldo find a successful program to finish her collegiate career with. "JeAnn has found a home that will take her to the next level in college basketball for an up and coming program at William Penn University," Garber stated. "Coach (Willie) Scott is receiving a high quality student-athlete into his program that has the flexibility of playing many positions on the floor that will improve his program. JeAnn will no doubt help take Coach Scott's program to a national level of which it started to progress towards from last year's season."
The Statesmen, an NAIA institution and members of the Heart of America Athletic Conference located in Oskaloosa, IA, posted a 14-17 record in 2015-16, Scott's first season at the helm. The Statesmen went 10-12 in conference action. The 14 wins were the most for William Penn since the 2012-13 campaign. The Statesmen boasted an honorable mention All-American last season as well in junior Alyssa Phillips, the program's 18th All-American.
Scott pointed to a number of different attributes that attracted him to Hiraldo's poise on the court. "Her athleticism and the fact that she's a great kid really attracted us to JeAnn. We had a chance to watch her when she came up to play us and she shot the ball really well. JeAnn adds shooting and athleticism and getting to the basket to our program. She plays hard and can rebound the ball. That's the type of player that was missing last year for us."
"We're very excited to have her come in to our program. At the junior college level, they like to push the ball and get up and down the court and that's how we want to play so I think JeAnn fits in really well with the type of system that we have- getting the ball out and pushing it. She seemed to have a high basketball IQ so we can run a lot of sets in the half court. The key is making shots and I think she can do that."
"We had a chance to meet with her family and as a coach it's always great to have parents involved in the decision. I was very impressed that her family was concerned with her well-being and who is going to coach her and wanted to know who I am as a person and I encourage that. I feel like we are getting a great kid that is balanced and her parents did a great job with her. JeAnn is very respectful and we think she is a great addition to our team."
Hiraldo played in 60 career games for the Tigers, making 56 starts over the past two seasons.
