Cyclones add four new pieces to puzzle

Photo: Manfred Brugger/Iowa State Daily

Iowa State’s Lauren Mansfield runs with the ball during the Cyclones game against Wartburg in Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, November 7, 2010. The Cyclones won 61-40.

David Merrill

With shooting guard Kelsey Bolte as the team’s only senior, it is important for the ISU program to keep building for the future. The Cyclones did just that during signing day Wednesday.

Coach Bill Fennelly will welcome Fallon Ellis, Kileah Mays, Nikki Moody and Brynn Williamson to the program for the 2011-2012 season.

“We got four kids who really want to come here,” Fennelly said. “We’re trying to stagger classes in 2011 and 2012; [those] are big years for us and now we’ve got four of them done and now we move on to the next one.”

Ellis is a Missouri City native who helped lead Westbury Christian High School to a 33-8 record in her junior season. She comes to the Cyclones as wing player.

Ellis is also the granddaughter of Tommy Watkins, who was a member of the 1959 ISU football team known as the “Dirty Thirty.”

Moody, a point guard,  averaged 15 points and four assists per game in her junior season at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas She earned all-state honors given out by Texas Basketball Magazine and was named District 5-A offensive player of the year in 2009-2010.

Mays is someone Fennelly described as possibly the first back-to-the-basket player in program history. The center from Duncanville, Texas, was ranked as the No. 36 recruit in the country by Premier Scouting Report.

Willamson, a forward from Kansas City, Mo., averaged 14 points and seven rebounds while leading Staley High School to a district championship in her junior season.