http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/020916aah.html
GoFrogs: Ramirez Named Naismith Trophy Finalist
FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU signee Amber Ramirez has been selected as a finalist for the 2015-16 Naismith High School Trophy presented by Hilton Worldwide, one of just 10 players in the nation to earn the honor, it was announced on Tuesday.
Ramirez is one of the top-ranked individual recruits in TCU history. She ranks as the 13th best player in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz and is one of just 21 players in the nation to grade out with a 98 rating in ESPN’s player ratings. She ranks second nationally at her position and 11th overall in the nation by ProspectsNation.com.
The Naismith Trophy All-American teams will be named on March 7 with the winner of the individual award named on Thursday, March 10, 2016.
The Naismith Awards were founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to recognize accomplished athletes, coaches, officials and contributors to high school and college basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969 to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The trophy was sculpted by Marty C. Dawe of Atlanta and has become among the most prestigious national honors awarded each year to top basketball players in the nation. The Women’s Player of the Year Award was first given to Anne Donovan of Old Dominion University in 1983.
In 1987, to honor the nation’s best boy’s and girl’s high school basketball players, the Naismith Trophy Boy’s High School Player of the Year and the Naismith Trophy Girl’s High School Player of the Year were established. The board compiles a top 10 list of players from across the country for both awards. The winners are then selected by board vote. The Naismith High School Boy’s Coach of the Year and Girl’s Coach of the Year categories were added in 2008.
In January, Ramirez was selected to participate in the upcoming McDonald’s All-American Game. It marked the first time in TCU women’s basketball or TCU men’s basketball history that an incoming player has been selected to the play in the game. Ramirez will play on the East squad in the game. The 2016 McDonald’s All American Games will tip-off on March 30, 2016. The 39th annual Boys Game will be broadcast live on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. CT, and the 15th annual Girls Game will air live on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m. CT. 2016 will mark the 19th consecutive year the Games will be broadcast on ESPN. The game will be held in Chicago at the United Center for the sixth consecutive season.
She is one of five players to sign with the Frogs during the fall signing period that helped TCU secure one of the finest signing classes in program history. The group has been ranked in the top 10 nationally by both ProspectsNation.com and BlueStar Basketball. The class also includes Mikayla Christian (Round Rock, Texas; Vista Ridge High School), Ella Hellessey (Dromana, Australia), Danielle Rainey (Round Rock, Texas; Vista Ridge High School) and Kianna Ray (Austin, Texas; Bowie High School).
Ramirez is the second highest ranked individual player that the program has ever signed behind recent TCU Letterman’s Association Hall of Fame selection Sandora Irvin, who arrived at TCU prior to the 2001-02 season ranked sixth nationally in the 2000-01 Blue Star Report. Irvin currently ranks as the all-time leading scorer in program history and spent time in the WNBA.
A three-time All-State and All-Region player, Ramirez’s 2015-16 Wagner squad is ranked number one in the state of Texas entering the 2015-16 season according to MaxPreps.com as the school seeks its fourth consecutive appearance in the state semifinals. They are ranked third in the 2015-16 preseason Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ Class 6A poll.
As a junior, she averaged 26.9 points on her way to a 26-11 record and San Antonio Express-News Player of the Year honors. The TABC 6A All-State Selection helped her team to a 12-0 mark against District 25-6A competition in 2014-15, reaching the state semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Cypress Woods in the 2014-15 UIL 6A State semifinals. One of Ramirez’s most notable performances as a junior came in a 47-point effort against Smithson Valley in February 2015 when she hit 13-of-24 from the field, 7-of-12 from three-point range and 14-of-15 from the free throw line to help complete the undefeated district season. Ramirez finished the regular season with the area-scoring title at 26.5 points during the regular season after a highly competitive race throughout the season against current Duke freshman and McDonald’s All-American Game selection Kyra Lambert.
As a sophomore, Ramirez led Wagner to a 25-11 record and an appearance in the 2013-14 UIL 5A State semifinals before falling to the second-ranked team in the nation, Duncanville. As a freshman, Ramirez was named the city of San Antonio’s newcomer of the year by the San Antonio Express-News.
Ramirez has also been part of USA Basketball, participating in the 2013 USA Basketball Women’s U16 National Team Trials and the 2014 USA Basketball Women’s U17 World Championship Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., one of just 39 players in the nation to participate in the trials.