From left to right: Rachel Spadafore, Keesha Allen and G'Ann Lauder.

The head coach of the storied Regina High School program, winner of the last three Ohio Division III State Championships, has impacted the Spartans in three ways over the last two years. To be specific, Keesha Allen, Rachel Spadafore and G'Ann Lauder-all three former players of his at Regina, all three Division I college players who recently transferred to CWRU.

"Maybe we should change our school colors from blue and white to green and gold," said CWRU women's basketball Head Coach Kristin Hughes, referring to the colors of the Spartans and Regina High School. "I think the Regina guidance office is getting tired of seeing me asking for transcripts. Joking aside, it's great to see kids from the local area come to a local school."

If you include JeNine Nickerson of Berea, Ohio, who transferred to CWRU from Cleveland State University in 1999, that's four NCAA Division I transfers in the last three years. Is that unusual at the Division III level?

"I think you hear about programs getting one kid in, but it's probably unusual to get multiple in a short period of time," said Hughes, currently in her 10th season as head coach. "We really have just been in the right place at the right time."

CWRU is the right place. The Spartans get Division I players to look at them because of the their conference, the University Athletic Association, which has claimed five out of the last six national championships. The level of play is not that big of drop off. Combine that with the fact that the student-athletes are going to get a great education, and it becomes a pretty good package.

The Spartans themselves got a pretty good package in Allen, Lauder and Spadafore.

"They all know each other really well, they know how to win and they are coming from a program in which excellence is pretty much demanded on a daily basis," Hughes said. "All those characteristics coming into this program are great for us."

Good timing too, because the women's basketball program at CWRU is at an all-time high. The Spartans broke the nation's top 25 a year ago and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA postseason tournament. They broke the school record for wins in a season with 20 and finished second in the UAA, their highest finish during their 16 years in the association.

"When I first came here it seemed like they weren't use to winning," Allen said. "They were use to scrapping and pulling out those tough wins. Things are different now. Everyone has the same attitude that we are going to win-and we have and will."

The Spartans lost Nickerson, the 2002 University Athletic Association Player of the Year, and the school's third all-time assist leader Tracy Roessner, to graduation. So the Regina threesome will have an even larger impact on the team, helping the Spartans retain their new-found status among the best teams in Division III.

"If we don't make it back to the tournament and go further I will consider the season a failure," Lauder said. "I think we have a serious chance of making it a long way."

No matter what the outcome, the women's basketball team has already succeeded in stirring up a little school spirit on campus. All that excitement will begin again November 22 when the Spartans begin the 2002-03 season at the Greater Cleveland Tipp-Off Tournament.

Allen arrives

The CWRU via Regina invasion began with sophomore guard Keesha Allen of Euclid, Ohio, transferred a year ago. Allen, a member of one Regina State Championship team (2000), received a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Cincinnati but wasn't happy after her arrival at UC and never played a game. She wanted to be closer to home and her family.

"Keesha has a lot of motivations for being here," Hughes said. "One is obviously basketball. She is a gym rat and loves the game. It's obvious from just the first 10 games she played for us last year, how talented she is. Her other motivations are to get a degree and to do something with her life."

In those 10 games, Allen, who missed the remainder of the season due to academis, scored 86 points (8.6 ppg.) and handed out 32 assists (3.2 apg.). Her most impressive stats were steals. Allen record 45 (4.5 spg.) in that short time, a stat in which she led the team at the end of the year.

"Keesha has the kind of speed you can't coach and you don't find at this level," Hughes said. "That's what makes her a step above a lot of other Division III players."

Spadafore splashes

The second student-athlete to take the CWRU plunge was Rachel Spadafore of Meadville, Pa., who transferred to CWRU last summer. Spadafore, a member of two Regina State Championship teams (2000 & 2001), attended Niagara University last year on a basketball scholarship. Like Allen, Spadafore said the school just wasn't a good fit for her. She never touched the hardwood, allowing her four full years of eligibility at CWRU.

"It's a pretty big change, but I definitely like it better than Division I "Spadafore said. " Now I have time to study and go to class. In Division I you are there to do a job, and that job is to play basketball-and that's it."

Spadafore averaged 9.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game her senior year in high school. The 6-foot-2 sophomore post player also shot 53 percent from the field and 71 percent from the line. She was a Greater Cleveland All-Star and honorable mention All-District selection.

"Rachel has not even touched upon all of her ability yet," Hughes said. "I hope this will be the right environment for her to do that in. Coach D (Diulis) prepared her to compete at the college level, and now it's our job to make sure she turns in to that prolific player."

Lauder lands

The last, but definitely not least, to step foot in University Circle was G'Ann Lauder of Maple Heights, Ohio. Lauder, a member of one Regina State Championship team (2000), played a year and a half at James Madison University (JMU). But like her two counterparts, she just did not like her surroundings.

"G'Ann is an unbelievable player," Hughes said. "She won all kinds of awards and accolades coming out of high school and was a very pivotal player for James Madison while she was there."

The 5-foot-11 junior guard played in 31 of 33 games her rookie year (2000-2001) off the bench, averaging 3.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 10.5 minutes. She was named JMU's Newcomer of the Year. Lauder only played in four games her second season (2001-2002), averaging 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 12.0 minutes in those games.

"I love being in Cleveland," Lauder said. "Division I and I were not compatible. I do believe I have the talent to play there-but it was athletics first and school second-and I just couldn't deal with that."

Lauder was named the Northwest Region Division III Player of the year and MVP of the state tournament her senior year at Regina. She also was inducted into the Ohio Girls Basketball Hall of Fame that same year.

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