FAMU women’s basketball rebuilds with seven new players

Florida A&M women’s basketball Head Coach Ledawn Gibson announced recently the signing of seven new players for the 2016-2017 season.

The septet of newcomers include Kennedy Burks (5’11 G/F Grand Prairie, TX, Jamella Smith (5’10 G Chapel Hill, NC), Ny’Asia Davis (6’3 C Starke, FL),  Dy’Manee Royal (6’0 F Savanah ,GA ) , Ecenur Yurdakul (5’7 PG , Eyup, Turkey), Shakeyrra Morrison (6’0 G/F, and DI transfer Taylor Darks (5’11  W Cincinnati, OH) .

“We are rebuilding this year after losing 72% of our scoring in Khadejra Young and Olivia Antilla,” Gibson said. “But my staff and I have done a remarkable job in selecting the kind of student athletes we need here at Florida A&M University.”

Gibson called special attention to the signing of Yurdakul, a 5-7 point guard from St. Fair Community College. The Istanbul, Turkey, native helped the Lady Roadrunners to a 22-8 record and a Region 16 tournament championship in her one season in Sedalia. Yurdakul shot a team-high 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.

“Yurdakul enters FAMU with a lot of experience playing basketball on the international level,” Gibson said. “While in Turkey she had the opportunity to play against some of the best basketball players in the world. She will play the point guard position but also has the ability to stretch the defense by hitting 3pt shots.”