Sports

Diamond DeShields Picked for USA Today High School Basketball Team

The Norcross High senior shooting guard is part of a 10-player national team.

The USA Today High School Sports Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls High School Basketball Team has unveiled its 10 players, and two players are from Gwinnett County, including one from Norcross High.

Diamond DeShields, a senior at Norcross and a 6-1 shooting guard, is the only returning player from the 2011-2012 team.

Committed to the University of North Carolina, DeShields was named to the 2011 ALL-USA second team as a junior. She led her team to a 26-6 record and a state semi-final finish with an average of 21.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last year.  

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In August, DeShields was named the MVP of the USA Basketball Women’s U17 World Championship in the tournament that led the team to win the gold.

The other 2012 Gwinnett player selected was Buford High's Kaela Davis, a 6-2 shooting guard dedicated to Georgia Tech. She averaged 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

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The other eight players for the preseason's ALL-USA squad are from seven states: Oregon, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, California, Illinois and Kentucky.

According to a news release, USA Today High School Sports is celebrating 30 years of honoring achievements in girls basketball by the unveiling of the 2012 Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls High School Basketball Team, spotlighting the most promising female players in the country for the upcoming season.

The ALL-USA Team and its year-end player and coach awards have been given out annually since 1982 and are considered the highest such honors in high school sports. The 10-player team was selected by USA Today Sports' Jim Halley with help from recruiting experts Mike Flynn and Chris Menning of Blue Star Basketball and Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

See also:

  • Diamond DeShields Commits to North Carolina
  • Diamond DeShields to Play in U17 World Championship
  • Norcross' Diamond DeShields Named MVP in World Championship

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