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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 18, 2003

UH signs guard from California

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Senior starter Michelle Gabriel is gone, but the Rainbow Wahine point guard position returned to three-deep this week when Janevia Taylor signed a letter of intent to play for Hawai'i in the fall. The left-hander can play both guard positions.

The 5-foot-5 San Bernardino (Calif.) High School senior will make her official campus visit next week along with a post player from Utah. The Rainbow Wahine now have five freshmen coming in this fall and could still sign more players.

Taylor averaged 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2.6 steals as a senior. She took her team to the California Interscholastic Federation quarterfinals, averaging nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds in three tournament games.

Taylor is a two-time all-CIF first-team selection, Los Angeles Times all-region selection and San Andreas League MVP.

Her mother, Joy McClendon, is from Hawai'i.

UH coach Vince Goo calls Taylor a "strong point guard" like former starter Kyla Evers. "She shoots the '3' pretty good," Goo says, "but she can really go to the basket. I think she prefers that. She's a real tough kid."

Paul Akahoshi, whose father is from Hawai'i, coached Taylor the past four years. He characterizes her as "a slasher" and a "great ballhandler" who is "real aggressive" at both ends of the floor.

She is also coachable. "Janevia will take a step back, give advice a try and add that much more to what she has," Akahoshi said. "She learned, basically, on the playground. She'd played organized basketball two years before I got her. She was obviously very raw, but she came out as perhaps the most talented player I've had a chance to coach."

Taylor also has trivia on her side. Diana Taurasi, the national player of the year who has won NCAA titles at Connecticut the past two seasons, grew up in nearby Chino. She played three games against Taylor in high school — and lost all three.

Hawai'i's other recruits committed early: Center Brittany Grice (Redondo Beach, Calif.), forward Amber Lee (McKinley) and guards Dalia Solia (Kaimuki) and Pam Tambini (San Jose).