Ever since the early signing period began on Nov. 12, Panther sports outside of football have continued to rack up the new recruits.
The Signal reported on the first wave of signees, but more have signed National Letters of Intent to join Georgia State athletics.
Women’s basketball
Astaja Tyghter will join the ranks of the women’s basketball team starting next season.
Tyghter will join the Panthers after playing her high school basketball for Colonial High in Orlando, Fla. The 5-foot-8 inch senior guard whose nickname is “Tyghter the Tiger” has roared and clawed her way to over 1,200 points and nearly 900 rebounds at this point in her high school career.
In the early portions of the season for the Grenadiers, the top ranked girls’ basketball team in the Super 16 in Florida, she is averaging a double˗double per game with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Volleyball
The list of newcomers that will join head coach Sally Polhamus’ has increased to three with the signings of National Letters of Intent from Shae Chapman and Crystal Lee.
Chapman is a 6˗foot senior from Houston, Texas and is currently playing for Cy Falls High School which is northwest of the city. She plays two positions as a middle blocker and outside hitter. The Eagles finished with a 29˗14 this past season and Chapman has notched 200 kills for her prep career.
In addition to hitting the court for Cy Falls, she also played at the club level for the Kaboom 18 Force team based in the metro˗Houston area.
Lee is a 5˗foot˗10 inch outside hitter who played her high school volleyball for Thornton Fractional South in Lansing, Ill. Just outside of Chicago. The Rebels finished the 2014 season with a mark of 27˗7 and were led by Lee to a regional championship over Plainfield South after barely missing out on a title the previous year. Lee finished that game with a double˗double: 15 digs and ten kills.
During her junior season in 2013, The Times of Northwest Indiana was named the Times Illinois girls volleyball player of the year. She also was named South Suburban (SSC) Blue player of the year.
Softball
A quartet of signees were added to the list for head coach Roger Kincaid’s softball team.
Mount Paran Christian High School’s Lexi Bates was one of the new signees. She spent three years at Kennesaw Mountain High before going to Mount Paran Christian High for her senior season. This past season, she had a .512 batting average along with 22 RBIs.
The first baseman and catcher has played on a pair of teams that have won regional championships. At the club level, she has worn the uniform of the Georgia Force.
Ambria Derry will graduate high school in 2016 and also signed a National Letter of Intent to join Georgia State. Currently, her high school team is Hillgrove High in Powder Springs, Ga. Derry has played primarily as an infielder.
The Hawks finished second this past season. Derry has also played travel softball for the West Cobb Chaos, Georgia Force, and currently for the Atlanta Vipers.
Remington Hasty is a senior at Buford High School in Gwinnett County, who plays the outfield position for the Wolves. She played on a team that won four consecutive state championships in addition to eight consecutive overall as Buford High’s streak of championships dates back to 2007.
Along with playing high school softball, Hasty also plays travel softball for the Georgia Impact, the same team that Amanda Chance plays for.
At catcher for those signing National Letters of Intent for Georgia State is Arden Jobe. She currently attends Newnan High School and this season has an average of .667 along with an on˗base percentage of .400.
Jobe, along with playing high school softball for Newnan High, is also a member of the East Cobb Bullets Gold travel team.
Baseball
The amount of signees to head coach Greg Frady’s baseball team has since grown to seven with the addition of more players signing National Letters of Intent.
All of the new signees are from the state of Georgia, including Nick Gatewood, who is a catcher, first baseman, and outfielder from Peachtree Ridge High and calls Duluth, Ga. home.
Gatewood is among the top 100 recruits in the state, according to PerfectGame.com. Along with wearing the Lions uniform, he has also played for the 17U Blue team for the Mizuno Team Georgia Baseball Academy.
Another of the top recruits the Panthers managed to land was Curtis Terry. At 6˗foot˗2 inches and 225 pounds, the infielder Terry hails from Snellville, Ga. and attends Archer High School in Lawrenceville, Ga.
In the 2013˗14 season, Terry played in 25 games where he batted .387, had an on˗base˗percentage of .466, had 29 hits, scored 16 runs, and plated 23 RBIs.
Another Georgia State signee is Chris Mejias. The right handed pitcher will wear Panther blue and white after graduating from Oconee County High School near Athens, Ga. He had a 5˗1 record with an ERA near two and 67 strikeouts as a junior.
He threw a perfect game in his first start for the Warriors. Mejias’ travel baseball was played for Team Elite.
Panthers baseball also managed to get a National Letter of Intent signing from one man who plays primarily at shortstop. James Nelson is an infielder that can play either shortstop or second base. Nelson is 6˗foot˗2 inches and weighs 190 pounds from Redan High School. Home for Nelson is Stone Mountain, Ga.
He led DeKalb County in RBIs as he plated 36 runs as a junior. He was selected to play in the Double Duty Classic at U.S. Cellular Field, home of the MLB’s Chicago White Sox in which Nelson hit a home run.
The last of the baseball recruits for Frady’s team is Devin Vainer. His brother, Davis, was recently recruited to the baseball program at Alabama.
Atlanta is his home and Vainer graduated in 2013 from Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs, Ga. He had a 6˗4 record at Polk (Fla.) State College last season with 20 strikeouts in 18 appearances. He will transfer to Georgia Perimeter College this year before making his way to Georgia State next season.
Cross Country/Track and Field
Georgia State has received signings of National Letters of Intent from two runners. Lindsay Shealy and Alicia Bermudez, according to Georgia State’s athletics website.
Men’s Golf
Nathan Williams was not the only signee to Joe Inman’s men’s golf team. The Panthers were able to see a National Letter of Intent signing from Sam Asbury, who currently plays for the Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Atlanta.
In 2014, Asbury won the AJGA Preseason Junior at Nemacolin by shooting a combined 148 over two rounds˗˗a 76 in the first round and a 72 in round two. At the Class A private state championship, Holy Innocents finished in second place. Asbury is a two˗sport athlete as he plays basketball for Holy Innocents in addition to golf.
Before Nickolaus Budd wears the blue and white uniform on the green golf courses, he will remain hitting the links for Etowah High School in Woodstock, Ga. He is 6˗foot˗2 inches and weighs 175 pounds.
Budd shot a combined 224 in the Georgia Junior Championship in 2013 with a 71 in the first round, a 76 in the second round, and a 77 in the third round. In 2014, he placed fourth in the Junior Masters with a 76 in round one and a 73 in round two for a combined 149 outing over the two days.
He also had a third˗place finish at the The Frog Atlanta Spring held at The Frog Golf Club at the Georgian.
