By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Five players have signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Green Bay women's basketball team in the 2012-13 season, announced by fifth year head coach Matt Bollant Wednesday. November 9 is the first day high school seniors can sign a binding National Letter of Intent to attend a university and participate in college athletics.

"Overall this is a really good recruiting class for us and important to the future of this program," said Bollant. "I feel this class is comparable to Adrian (Ritchie), Sarah (Eichler) and Lydia's (Bauer) class and is a solid class from top to bottom."

Bollant and his staff have added four guards in Sadie Murren, Kaili Lukan, Brionna Barnett and Mehryn Kraker along with post player Mariah Monke.

"I feel like we have addressed a lot of our needs with this class," Bollant said. "These players came to Green Bay because they want to be pushed and be part of something special."

Sadie Murren... The all-state selection hails from Colon, Neb. and attends Wahoo High School where she helped the Warriors reach the Class C-1 state championship game in 2010 and 2011. During the state tournament game in 2011 the 5'8" guard averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists and four steals per game.

With her commitment to join the Phoenix, Murren becomes the third member of her family to play basketball at the collegiate level. Murren's brother Taylor plays at Columbus' Central Community College while her older sister, Mattie, is a freshman at Briar Cliff.

Murren plays for the Nebraska Bison Shooting Stars AAU team which is considered one of the top 20 AAU programs in the country.

AAU coach Dan Lesoing has coached in the AAU ranks for 15 years and considers Murren one of the most intense players he has coached, giving 100-percent all the time.

"Sadie has a great way of making players around her better with her work ethic," said Lesoing. "She's going to be a great role model for the community and I will not be surprised if she volunteers her time a lot. Sadie is a fantastic person along with being a great basketball player."

Kaili Lukan... The 5'11" point guard will join her older sister Megan on the court at Green Bay next fall. In August Lukan competed at the Canadian 17U Women's National Championship in Winnipeg as member of Team Ontario.

Lukan also played in the JUEL All-Star Game and All Canada Classic. JUEL is a Canadian league that features Ontario's elite basketball players.

"Kaili is a great defender, can handle the ball get to the rim and is a tough kid," said Bollant. "Kaili is an extremely good athlete, long, athletic and has great passing skills as well."

Mehryn Kraker... Bollant feels the Phoenix got the best guard in the state of Wisconsin with Kraker's commitment to Green Bay. From West Allis Central High School, Kraker is the lone Wisconsin player in the class of 2012 and will certainly have a bright future with the Phoenix.

"Kraker is a complete player, she plays defense, rebounds, shoots well and has a lot of the Green Bay intangibles that we look for," said Bollant.

Kraker was a Greater Metro first-team all-conference and conference player of the year selection during her junior year. The 5'11" guard averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while dishing out an average of 4.1 assists per contest last season.

Considered one of the best AAU teams in the state, Kraker played for the WI Playground AAU team under the direction of coach Jeff Smith.

Brionna Barnett... The 5'7" guard averaged 14.7 points during her junior season at Elkhart Memorial High School where she earned first-team and all-state honors from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.

"She has great quickness, strength and can really shoot the three and has a very bright future with us," Bollant said.

In addition to playing in the Indiana All-Star Game last season, Barnett is on the 2012 watch list for Indiana Miss Basketball.

Mariah Monke... The lone post player in the class of 2012, Monke attends Fergus Falls High School in Fergus Falls, Minn. The 6'2" forward was a Minnesota Central Lakes all-league selection her sophomore season and plays on the North Tartan AAU Team which is considered one of the top 30 programs in the country.

"She runs the floor extremely well, is very explosive and can finish very well," said Bill Larson who coaches Monke on the North Tartan AAU Team. "She's very strong on the floor defensively and offensively she establishes herself well and is able to create plays."

Larson has been coaching the program for nine years and considers Monke one of the most versatile players in her position.

In addition to basketball, Monke also excels in volleyball and softball.

Green Bay opens regular season play on the road with a trip to North Dakota State Friday, Nov. 11 before hosting Toledo in its home opener Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. The Phoenix will wrap up its opening home stand Friday, Nov. 18 hosting Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center.

Season tickets, Pick 5 packages and single-game tickets for both men's and women's basketball programs are currently on sale with the Green Bay ticket office. For more information, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets.

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