WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 15, 2019) - Dave Slifer is excited to announce the signing of four student athletes to the Jennies Basketball Program at Central Missouri.
 
"We went into the spring wanting to add some more athleticism, toughness, outside shooting, and players with a championship pedigree to our program, and there is no doubt in my mind that we accomplished that goal."

Nija Collier        
6'0 • Guard/Forward    
Kansas City, Kansas / Kansas City Kansas Community College
 
Nija, originally from Roseville, Michigan, was named the 2019 Spalding D2 Junior College Player of the Year. She helped lead the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils to a 32-4 record and the second national championship in program's history. "Nija is a tremendous talent, but more importantly is a great person" said coach Slifer. "Nija is long, athletic, a really good three-point shooter, talented off the bounce, can post up, goes and gets rebounds, has a great understanding of the game, and most importantly she just wants to win." Nija averaged 17.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, shot 58% from the field, and 40% from the three. Nija was named the Region V Player of the Year, a First Team All-American, and the Most Valuable Player of the NJCAA D2 Championship Tournament. Under the leadership of two time National Champion Head Coach Joe McKinstry, Nija has developed a work ethic and championship attitude that played a huge part in their historic 2018-19 season. Nija plans to major in Communication Studies at UCM.

Ellisha Davis      
5-6 • Point Guard           
Belleville, IL / Bradley University / St. Louis Community College
 
While at Bradley Ellisha started 12 games for the Braves and they won 11 of them. "We followed Ellisha's recruiting in junior college," Coach Slifer noted, "and knew she had a lot of interest from the MIAA, GLVC and obviously a number of D1 schools as well – including her landing spot Bradley. We've always been impressed with Ellisha's basketball IQ and how fast she can play with the ball in her hands." She played for a great coach, Shelly Ethridge, at St. Louis Community College and had a significant role in STLCC's 51 wins over two years. We think our program will be a perfect spot for Ellisha's senior year.
While playing for Coach Ethridge at STLCC. Ellisha averaged 12.0 points and 4.6 assists per game in her two years.  Her sophomore season she helped the Archers to a 25-4 record.  As a freshman, Davis helped St. Louis C.C. to a fifth-place national finish, scoring 11.7 points while dishing out 4.9 assists per game.  The Archers were 26-9 during her freshman year. Ellisha, will bring her 3.3 GPA with her and plans to earn a Degree in Psychology at UCM.
 
Ryann Stearns  
5-9 • Guard       
Andover, KS / University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA)

Ryann played her freshman season of college basketball at UTSA, playing in 21 games while starting 15 of them. She was UTSA's fourth leading scorer, while making 34% of her threes and free throws at a 89% clip. "Ryann is a very tough, high character kid and is capable of doing whatever you need done to help the team win," said Coach Slifer. "I am thrilled she is going to be part of our program the next three years." In High School at Andover Central, Ryann was named the (HS) 2017-18 Player of the Year and garnered first-team All-League and second-team All-State accolades. Ryann played her club ball with Kansas United under the direction of Gayla Soyez. After making the Dean's List both semesters at UTSA, Ryann will pursue a degree in either Kinesiology or Criminal Justice at UCM.
 
Camryn Swanson
5'9 • Guard                       
Blue Springs, MO / Kansas City Kansas Community College

Camryn also helped lead the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils to a 32-4 record and the 2019 NJCAA D2 National Championship.  The sharp-shooter from Blue Springs, averaged nearly nine points per game while shooting 36% from the three-point line. Cam holds the record (KCK) for most three-pointers made in a single season at 87 and record for career three-pointers made at 128. Swanson is the first Blue Devil to be named team captain by Joe McKinstry in his four years as head coach at KCKCC.  "Cam has been in good basketball programs her entire career and it definitely shows in how she plays. The three-point shooting is obvious," said Coach Slifer, "but she also does the things that don't show up on the stat sheet but lead to winning in a big way.  I also like the fact that Cam has always wanted to compete in the MIAA and we are excited she will get the chance at Central Missouri." Camryn played for Dru Wheatcroft and the Next Level Eclipse, one of the top clubs in the country during her summers and Mark Spigarelli at Blue Springs High School. Camryn plans to major in Criminal Justice with dreams of going to Law School and eventually being an Attorney.