As the women's basketball team kicks off its 2003-2004 season with its first official practice this weekend, it will also look toward the future, as two of the nation's top high school players--senior Candice Wiggins and junior Marissa Coleman--will be visiting campus.
Wiggins, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard from La Jolla, Calif., is rated the ninth-best prospect in the country by All Game Sports and Blue Star scouting services. As a junior at La Jolla Country Day High School, she averaged 30 points and 13 rebounds per game.
"Candice is the total package," high school coach Terri Bamford said. "She has the three-point shot, mid-range shot, and she can take the ball to the basket."
Wiggins has earned numerous accolades during her distinguished high school career. She was named an All-American as a freshman, sophomore and junior and starred on the third-place USA Basketball Youth Development Festival West Team this summer.
"She's obviously very skilled, but she's also a great leader," Bamford said. "She has a great work ethic and comes to practice everyday ready to work. She's the most competitive player I've ever seen."
Although Wiggins has only been to Duke once for a basketball tournament several years ago, she is impressed by both the players and the coaching staff.
"I think the whole program has a really good aura," Wiggins said. "The players all seem to relate [to the coaches] really well."
Wiggins also boasts a 3.9 grade point average at her prep school, and academics have been one of her primary considerations during the recruiting process.
The talented Californian's other top choice is Stanford, where she will make an official visit one week after traveling to Duke.
"The combination of a student-athlete is really important," she said. "Duke's a great school and has one of the top basketball teams in the country. It offers a lot."
Wiggins, whose brother Alan plays basketball at the University of San Francisco, is also a talented volleyball player and may play both sports if she decides to come to Duke.
Although the temptation to stay close to home is strong, Wiggins believes that she would be capable of playing on the East Coast.
"I'm the kind of person that could go away," Wiggins said. "It would be hard to leave, especially with my brother going to San Francisco. But the easiest choice might not always be the best, and vice versa."
Joining Wiggins for an unofficial visit is Coleman, who will be making a much shorter trip from her Washington, D.C., home.
The 6-foot-1 small forward is good friends with current red-shirt sophomore Monique Currie, who missed the 2002-2003 season with a torn ACL after establishing herself as one of the top freshmen in the nation the previous year.
"Marissa is able to handle the ball and go inside and outside well," said high school coach Eddie Simpson, who also coached Currie's AAU team. "She's a great leader, a great rebounder, she can hit the three and she's very unselfish."
As a sophomore at St. John's High School, Coleman averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game. She participated in the Nike All-America Camp in 2003 and was named a Street & Smith All-America honorable mention in 2002.
Last May, Coleman came to Duke for a tournament, and she left impressed with the school.
"I really liked the campus," she said. "I was just there for a few hours, but it was really pretty. I also like the size--it's not too big and not too small. And, of course, the basketball program is great."
Although Coleman will not be making her college choice anytime soon, Wiggins hopes to decide by Oct. 27, one day after her visit to Stanford. If she chooses the Blue Devils, she will join center Chante Black and forward Laura Kurz in Duke's class of 2008.
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