By ROBERT CESSNARachel Mitchell knew for sometime she wanted to play for the Texas A&M women's basketball program. Now the rest of the country also knows the 6-foot-6 sophomore center from Humble Atascocita loves the Aggies after her commitment became known.
"It was on ESPN[.com] today," said Mitchell, who is ranked the nation's eighth-best prospect in the Class of 2011 by ESPN. "That surprised me."
Mitchell said she committed to A&M head coach Gary Blair last fall, then didn't give it a second thought until she started getting congratulations from friends Tuesday after ESPN's HoopGurlz reported her commitment.
"I like the family atmosphere [at A&M] and the coaches," Mitchell said. "That's the place I've always wanted to go. It's a family up there, that's how it is."
Mitchell is considered a raw talent by the recruiting experts.
"Her arms seemingly go on for miles," said HoopGurlz's Chris Hansen. "She has a lean build with good agility and her potential as a defensive impact player alone should have scouts very excited about this Texan."
The 175-pound Mitchell, who also high jumps in track, said she will work on getting stronger.
Mitchell, who has attended A&M's Elite Camp the last two years, has been a teammate of A&M Consolidated junior Karla Gilbert on the Houston Elite AAU team, playing in many of the country's top summer tournaments and camps in the last three years.
Gilbert pledged to A&M last September. The two are good friends, but Mitchell said she knows more than half of A&M's team from her summer play.
Houston Elite head coach Howard Randall said there's no limit to Mitchell's capabilities.
"There's not a lot of young ladies who are 6-6 sophomores walking around," Randall said. "And she's a pretty good basketball player."
Other Houston Elite players under Randall who signed with A&M were Morenike Atunrase, A'Quonesia Franklin, Patrice Reado, La Toya Micheaux, Dimitria Buchanan, Ogadie Chinweze and Adrian McGowen.
"It also helped that she's played with other Aggies," said Randall, who added that several of his former players return to help the team, including Franklin.
Mitchell, who transferred from C.E. King High School after her freshman season, still gets recruiting letters daily, but there are no recruiting visits in her future. Mitchell is the first sophomore pledge for Blair, who by NCAA rules can't comment on recruits and nonbinding verbal pledges.
Mitchell doesn't know what she'll major in, but she's planning to take advanced classes to prepare her for A&M.
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