After watching Duke's buzzer-beater at Connecticut this season on an unofficial Huskies visit, shooting guard Abby Waner decided to join the ranks of the Blue Devils for her college career.
In an announcement that came April 30, Waner chose to come to Duke over UConn, the three-time defending national champion.
A rising senior at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, Co., Waner was named Colorado Ms. Basketball this season after leading her team to its second-straight class 5A state championship. On the season, Waner, a three-time All-America, averaged a state-leading 31.8 points per game.
With this commitment, the Blue Devils also picked up a second guard, Abby's sister, Emily, who just concluded her freshman season at University of Colorado. Emily Waner announced April 19 that she is leaving the Buffaloes for the chance to play with Abby.
"I think they'll do great," said recruiting guru Bret McCormick of the All-Star Girls Report about the pair who played together in high school and on an AAU team. "It's almost like being twins. They make each other better as well as make the players around them better."
In her freshman campaign with the Buffaloes, Emily Waner played in all 30 games, averaging 7.1 points and 25.9 minutes per game.
Abby Waner is the second recruit from the class of 2005 to verbally commit to Duke. Brittany Mitch, a guard at St. John's High School in the Washington D.C. area, made public her intention to play for Duke in March. Mitch led her team to a 2004 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Championship, hitting the winning shot against the No. 1 team in the nation, Bishop McNamara.
"[Head Coach] Gail [Goestenkors] is kind of going back to players she went to in 1999, real fundamental kids," McCormick said. "They love the game, [and] play hard."
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