April 8, 2002

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The outstanding story of University of Evansville senior guard Latasha Austin (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) will add another chapter later this week.

Austin, who has gone from a freshman bench player to one of the best players in UE women's basketball history over the past four years, has been invited to join some of college basketball's elite players this week at the WNBA pre-draft camp at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. The WNBA pre-draft camp will run from Thursday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13, with on-court sessions beginning on Friday.

"I'm very happy for Latasha that she has been able to earn this opportunity," said UE head women's basketball coach Tricia Cullop. "Latasha has worked so hard over her four years at UE to make herself into the player that she is now, and I'm so happy for her that all of her hard work has paid off.

"This is a great opportunity for Latasha and for UE women's basketball. I really feel that she has a great chance to catch on with a WNBA team at this camp."

The pre-draft camp brings together over 80 of the nation's top senior women's college basketball players. Representatives and scouts from all 16 WNBA teams will be on hand this weekend to evaluate talent in preparation for Friday, April 19th's 2002 WNBA Draft.

Austin was selected to participate in the WNBA pre-draft camp following a career year at Evansville. Austin was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference guard and was tabbed the Valley's Defensive Player of the Year in 2002. Austin led UE and ranked seventh in the Valley in scoring, averaging 15.0 points per game. She also led the league and was ranked 11th nationally in steals with 108.

Austin finished her UE career ranked 11th all-time in UE history in scoring with 1,066 career points, fourth all-time in assists with 428, and first in career steals at UE with 290. She holds a part of six different UE school records and is the only player in UE basketball history (both men's and women's) to have recorded over 1,000 career points, 400 career rebounds, 400 career assists, and 200 career steals.

The WNBA season begins its sixth season over Memorial Day weekend as the Los Angeles Sparks will host the New York Liberty on Saturday, May 25.