Courtesy: Texas Southern Athletics
Texas Southern University head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke announced the addition of four student-athletes to the 2020-21 roster. The highly decorated Central Arizona College duo of Jenay Borjorquez and Ayanna Clark along with Ribalt Academy’s Elizabeth Camacho and Tyler Junior College’s Te’Aire Hambrick will join the program for the upcoming season.
The Tigers finished the 2019-20 campaign with their first 20-win season since 2016-17 and advanced to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed before the season concluded prematurely due to COVID-19. It marked only the fourth time in school history TSU has won 20 games as Cooper-Dyke has done it twice. The staff put an emphasis on adding size to its frontcourt as a pair of recruits are both 6-3 while all the recruits were highly regarded at their positions and played at the highest levels.
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A 6-3 post, Clark averaged a double-double with 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game as No. 7 ranked Central Arizona College finished with a 28-3 overall record (22-0 conference). She was named a 2019-20 NJCAA First Team All-American, the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and All-ACCAC First Team while also receiving ACCAC Player of the Week honors on five occasions as a sophomore. Clark had 14 games with 20-plus points including two games with 31 points. On the boards, Clark posted 23 games with 10 or more rebounds including a season-high 23 at Cochise College. A two-time NJCAA All-American, ACCAC Player of the Year and the 2018-19 ACCAC Freshman of the Year, Clark finished her career at CAC with 20.8 points, 12.8 rebounds along with 58.8 percent shooting.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Clark was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN and was named a McDonald’s All-American while playing at Poly High School. She also played in the Jordan Brand Classic and was ranked as the top post in the country as a senior.
Bojorquez helped lead Central Arizona College to a 28-3 overall record and a 22-0 conference mark during the 2019-20 season as the team earned a No. 6 overall seed in the NJCAA Region I Championship and its first NJCAA National Championship bid since 2015. The 5-8 guard, who earned Region I and second team All-ACCAC honors, led the nation with 7.9 assists per game and was the top defender in the ACCAC with 2.8 steals. She had 12 games with 10-plus assists and seven games with five or more steals while also averaging 8.2 points per game this past season.
Originally from Phoenix, Ariz., Bojorquez was a three-star prospect out of high school at Sierra Linda as she led her team in assists and steals while also earning a spot on the All-5A Conference first team and Sports360AZ Arizona All-Academic Girls Basketball first team as she originally signed with San Diego State of the Mountain West out of high school.
A 6-3 center, Camacho arrives at TSU with a plethora of international experience as a member of the Guatemala National Team since the age of 14 while attending Ribet Academy in Los Angeles, Calif. In 2019, Camacho guided her U16 team to the FIBA COCABA U16 Championship as she was named game MVP after scoring 13 points with four blocks. She was named one of the best centers of COCABA after finishing as the second-leading scorer in the games.
Hambrick averaged 15 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists during her sophomore season at Tyler Junior College. A native of Larue, Texas, Hambrick led TJC to a 2019 NJCAA Region XIV regular season title and back-to-back berths in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. The 5-8 guard capped off her career at TJC with back-to-back all-conference team honors and 2020 All-Region honors. Hambrick attended LaPoynor High School in East Texas and was a four-time all-state selection and a District 19-2A MVP after averaging 19 points and 5.5 assists as a senior.
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