The future of Arkansas women’s basketball will take center stage today when three members of the Razorbacks’ incoming freshman class take part in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star Game.
Jordan Danberry, Malica Monk and Bailey Zimmerman will all participate for the East team, which faces off against the West All-Stars at 6 p.m. at the Farris Center in Conway.
“For the state of Arkansas, that’s a great thing,” West All-Star and Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. “Jimmy Dykes is trying to get all of the best players from our state to stay at home and this is a great showcase for those players.
“From our side of it, our kids on our team know who they’re up against and we want to go out there and compete and win the game.”
Danberry, a 5-foot-7 guard, led Conway to the Class 7A finals each of the past two seasons and was named Gatorade Player of the Year. Monk, a 5-5 guard, is a an ESPN top 100 recruit from North Little Rock who led the Lady Charging Wildcats to the state semifinals her senior year. Zimmerman, a 6-0 guard from Wonderview, is the cousin of Arkansas men’s basketball assistant coach Matt Zimmerman who signed with the Razorbacks in September.
“It might look a little daunting for us on paper,” Rimmer said. “But we really like our kids. We’re going to be outsized, but we’ve got some good speed on our team.”
While the East team features the star-studded future Razorbacks, the West All-Stars have plenty of talent as well. Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette Players of the Year Kiana Thompson from Greenland, and Jordan Martin of Bentonville headline the roster.
Rimmer, who is coaching his second All-Star weekend but his first as head coach, will be assisted by Alan Barton of Greenland, Bret Nagel of Ozark and Mark Upshaw of Hot Springs. All four coaches have players on the West team who they coached during the season, in Fayetteville’s Lauren Schuldt, Ozark’s Kylie Ladd and Hot Spring’s Berniezha Tidwell and Tiaunna Watkins.
“We coaches all talked about those exact kids in our meetings,” Rimmer said. “We talked about how much they mean to us and how special it is to be coaching them one final time in their senior year.”
Vernon Tarver can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAVernon.