University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Signs Japreece Dean to GIA Scholarship
January 09, 2017 | Women's Basketball
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- UCLA head women's basketball coach Cori Close announced today the signing of Japreece Dean (Austin, Texas/Vista Ridge HS/Texas Tech) to a GIA scholarship contract. She will be a sophomore at UCLA next season and officially began classes today. Dean joins an already stellar 2017 class that is rated No. 6 by espnW HoopGurlz. That class includes 6-foot-2 forward Lauryn Miller (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood HS), 6-foot-1 guard Chantel Horvat (Geelong, Australia/Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence), 6-foot-1 guard Kayla Owens (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS) and 5-11 forward Michaela Onyenwere (Aurora, Colo./Grandview HS).
"Japreece fills a big need for our program," Coach Close said. "She possesses a great work ethic, a deep love of the game, a desire to compete, and a commitment to be a great teammate. Those things make her a perfect fit for UCLA. I am toughest on point guards and Japreece wants to be pushed to compete at the highest levels. She will be a great Bruin."
Dean, a 5-6 guard, was ranked the No. 28 point guard and the No. 86 player overall in the 2015 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings by espnW.
Dean played two games at Texas Tech during the 2016-17 season before deciding to transfer. She was named a Big 12 All-Freshman Team Honoree in 2015-16 at Texas Tech after leading all Big 12 freshmen in scoring, free throw percentage, assists and assist/turnover ratio. During the season, she was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week six times, the first Lady Raider in Big 12 history to do so, with only three players in history to garner more weekly awards. Dean second on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and led the team in assists (3.3 apg). Scored 17 points, including going 9-for-13 from the charity stripe vs. Southeastern Louisiana. Scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter against Idaho State, including a couple of big buckets down the stretch. Set a then-career-high 23 points against Idaho, hitting four from downtown. Poured in 20 points for the second time in four games against Grambling and added five rebounds and four assists. She dropped 22 points against TCU, her third 20-point output of the season and put up 21 points at Texas. She scored 12 points at TCU to go along with five assists and seven rebounds. She tallied 17 points at Baylor, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and adding a career-high three steals. Registered 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds against Kansas, going a career-best 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Had 16 points against West Virginia and poured in 17 points and five assists vs. Texas. She followed that with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists at Kansas. Had a breakout performance at the Big 12 Championship, scoring 45 points over two games, including a career-best 28 in a first-round win over Iowa State. She ended the 2015-16 season by scoring 17 points in the quarterfinal loss to No. 4 Baylor.
She finished her prep career at Vista Ridge High School averaging 17 points and 7.1 assists per game, leading the Rangers to an overall record of 133-17. In 2014-15, she led VRHS to a 36-3 overall record and the State Semifinals. She was named the District 25-5A MVP and was also chosen as a Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State Selection. An Academic All-State pick, she was also named as a Texas All-Star Team Selection, an All-Central Texas First Team and a McDonald's All-American Nominee. In 2013-14, she was named to the All-Central Texas First Team and was a Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State Selection. In 2012-13, she was named the District MVP and as an All-Central Texas First Team honoree. She was also a Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State Selection. In 2011-12, she was an All-District First Team pick and was named to the All-Region I First Team. She played AAU ball with TeamXpress.
"I chose UCLA because of its level of education it has to offer," Dean said. "I also love the fact that Coach Close is very passionate about her players and that it goes well beyond the game of basketball."
