IU landed its fourth recruit of the 2017 class Sunday when Jaelynn Penn committed to IU.
David Tapley, Penn’s AAU coach for Kentucky Premier, said the five-star wing will make a difference the moment she arrives on campus for IU next season.
“She’s complete. She can do it all,” Tapley said. “She’s a great rebounding guard, great passer, really good midrange game. She’s a really long, super athletic kid.”
Tapley said it came down to IU Coach Teri Moren’s Hoosiers and South Carolina for Penn after she de-committed from Dayton in September.
“She had her pick, but they really like Coach Moren, they like her staff and they like the academics,” Tapley said. “She’s a really smart kid.”
Penn visited IU this weekend, and Tapley said she was still scheduled to visit South Carolina, but IU impressed her enough to commit now.
The 5-foot-10 guard attends Butler High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and led her team to a 31-5 record and a state title last season.
Penn averaged 14.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game during her junior year and was named Metro Louisville Girls Basketball Player of the Year 2015-16 season.
Penn is rated as a five-star prospect across multiple recruiting services and checks in as the 39th best player in the class of 2017, according to ESPN.
With five seniors on this season’s roster and four of them being backcourt players, Penn will be a welcome addition to next year’s squad as the current headliner of IU’s 2017 class.
Penn, alongside a trio of three-star players, is the fourth verbal commitment that Moren has picked up.
Linsey Marchese from Georgia, Alexis Johnson from Texas and recently committed Keyana Warthen of Florida have all stated their intentions to be Hoosiers next season.
IU will begin its 2016-17 campaign with an exhibition at home against the University of Indianapolis on Nov. 6. IU’s first official game will also be played in the newly renovated Assembly Hall on Nov. 11 against Vanderbilt.
