June 12, 2002

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State head women's basketball coach Raegan Scott-Pebley announced the signing of Virginia Jennings, a junior transfer from SUNY-Buffalo on Wednesday.

"Virginia brings a lot of experience to the team that our other two signees don't have," Scott-Pebley said. "She's played two years of Division I basketball, and was a captain one year. She understands the importance of the conference season and playing well on the road. We look for her to be an automatic leader because of that. Virginia is also a point guard whose style of play fits perfectly into ours. She pushes the ball, can hit the three and looks for assists."

Jennings, a two-year starter at Buffalo and a 2002 co-captain, is a native of Nashville, Mich. UB was 28-28 in her two years. She started 50 of the 53 games she played there, and averaged nearly 30 minutes. Jennings ended her two-year career at UB with 176 assists (3.3 per game), 294 points (5.5 per game) and 158 rebounds (3.0 per game) in 53 games. Additionally, she shot .302 (39-129) from three-point range and had a two-year field goal percentage of .346 (99-286).

"I wanted to be a part of a new tradition," Jennings said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge and the responsibility of building a new program. Also, I grew up on a farm and I really wanted to be involved with an agricultural university and community."

The daughter of Archie and Mattie Jennings, she is a biology major. Jennings was named a UB scholar athlete as a freshman and sophomore at Buffalo.

Jennings is Scott-Pebley's third signee since she was hired on May 1, 2002, as Brittany Tressler and Stephanie Peterson, both of Orem, committed to USU on May 10. Utah State reinstated its women's basketball program on March 5 after a 15-year absence, and is scheduled to begin play in 2003-04.