It appears that the women's basketball team's historic 2007-08 campaign paid dividends in recruiting. Joining the mix this season are three freshmen -- Kate Barnosky, Rachel Figaro and Tiffany Kornegay -- who bring with them a wealth of experiences.
"My high school team was motivated to win," Kornegay said. "A lot of the players that I competed against in high school are also playing college-level basketball in either Div. I, II or III."
"All three have come from very good programs, whether it be AAU or high school, and that was something I looked at," coach Carla Berube said. "That was a positive for them, that it wouldn't be that much of a change coming into our program."
After the Jumbos made their first-ever trip to the Elite Eight in last season's NCAA Tournament, potential future Jumbos took note.
"I heard about how well they were doing and their season," Figaro said. "I talked to a lot of my friends and family, and when they found out I was thinking about Tufts, they told me to really look into it. I went to a few games, and I enjoyed how everything was run. I liked the chemistry between the team and how the coach interacted with the team."
"They made it pretty far into the NCAA Tournament," Kornegay said. "I just felt like I could contribute my basketball skills to the team and help them do well this year."
But the recent success the Jumbos have enjoyed isn't the only reason this year's recruits chose to come to Tufts.
"It's not necessarily the success, but it's the mentality of the program, that they take it very seriously, which is what led to their success," Barnosky said. "Everyone is really into it, and Coach Berube is a very good coach."
Barnosky, one of Berube's recruits, hails from Long Island, N.Y., where she played for the Walt Whitman Wildcats in high school as well as the Long Island Lightening of the AAU. She set the school record for assists in a game with 10 and was named All-County her senior year.
"I just want to contribute in any way that I can to help the team improve," Barnosky said. "They had a very successful year last season, and we just want to build on that success going into this year."
Freshman guard Kornegay, of Carver, Mass., played at Carver High School before transferring to Tabor Academy for her junior and senior years. She is the record-holder for assists at Carver and was a New England Prep School Class A All-Star her senior year at Tabo which went undefeated but lost in the semifinals of the New England Prep School Class A Tournament.
Barnosky and Kornegay are joined by guard/forward Figaro of Windham, N.H. Figaro competed for Bishop Guertin High School, earning the team MVP nod her senior year. Figaro also garnered honors at the annual Twin State Basketball Classic between New Hampshire and Vermont in 2008, where she was named Most Outstanding Player.
"They've come in and they have a lot of confidence, even more so than some of the freshmen last year, which is important," Berube said. "I think all three of them will have good careers here.
"You never know until you actually put them in real game situations, but they've blended really well so far, both on the court and off the court," Berube continued. "They've done a great job of just getting used to college basketball, our preseason and our practices."
While the future is bright for the Jumbos' new players, their roles on this year's team are still up in the air.
"We don't have a set rotation right now," Berube said. "Each day in practice, it's getting a little clearer, just who's going to be playing in games, trying to establish roles. But it's an ever-changing role. How you play in practice, how hard you play defensively, how you take care of the ball, those are the things that are important and those are the things that will get you minutes on the floor."
Sapna Bansil and Carly Helfand contributed reporting to this article.
