MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama head women's basketball coach Terry Fowler announced on Tuesday that Simone Lett has signed a National Letter-of-Intent and will join the program in the fall.
A 6-foot-1 forward from Atlanta, Ga., she will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after playing the last two years at Florida SouthWestern State C.C.
As a sophomore, Lett averaged 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to go along with 56 blocked shots and 42 steals to help the Buccaneers to a 24-7 finish and a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament. She scored in double figures on 13 occasions throughout the year — turning the trick in eight straight contests from Jan. 8-Feb. 5 — and grabbed 10 or more rebounds six times while posting five double-doubles. Lett finished with a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds in the second game of the year against No. 1 Gulf Coast (Fla.) State C.C., and she had a 19-point, 14-rebound performance in a January victory at 24th-ranked Eastern Florida State C.C. She had another double-double as the Buccaneers defeated EFSCC in a rematch, and scored 17 points against GCSCC in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Region VIII Tournament.
Lett was voted second-team all-Suncoast Conference at the end of the year.
She recorded 10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest her freshman year, adding 39 blocks and 30 steals as FSSCC advanced to the second round of the NJCAA Tournament on the way to a 30-4 overall record. Lett posted a double-digit scoring total in each of her first six outings, going on to accomplish the feat 19 times highlighted by double-doubles in victories over Miami Dade C.C. (15 points, career-high 15 rebounds) and Palm Beach (Fla.) State C.C. (19 points, 10 rebounds). She had a career-best 25 points in a win over Santa Fe (Fla.) C.C. while also scoring 24 as the Bucs defeated the Impact Academy the opening week of the season.
Lett was considered a three-star recruit and among the top 50 wing players in the country by ESPN.com coming out of Westlake High, where she averaged 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while supplying 43 blocks and 35 steals as the Lions went 30-2 and won the state 7A title to earn an invitation to the GEICO National Tournament. She played her first three years on the varsity at Pebblebrook High, earning region player-of-the-year honors following her junior season when she posted 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, 44 blocks and 40 steals while helping the Falcons go 21-8 following a first-round victory in the state 7A tournament. As a sophomore Lett averaged 16.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per outing, and she recorded 6.1 points and 2.8 rebounds a contest her first year on the varsity.
"We're excited to have Simone join our family. She comes from a winning program that plays against some of the very best competition in the country on a nightly basis," said Fowler. "Simone brings length and versatility to our program. She is a competitor who can defend multiple positions, rebound with the best of them and score the basketball in a variety of ways."
Lett joins the duo of Serin Dunne (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Janelle Jones (Pensacola, Fla.), who signed with the program in the fall.
South finished the 2019-20 campaign 16-16 after winning its first two Sun Belt Conference Tournament games to qualify for the semifinals of the event before the season ended due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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