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#14 JENNA STAITI Center » 6-6 » Sophomore » Cumming, Ga/West Forsyth HS
2016-17 SEASON (FRESHMAN AT MARYLAND) » Played on a Maryland team that went 32-3 overall, 15-1 in the Big Ten en route to a conference title and No. 3 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament » Scored 6 points with 4 rebounds in Maryland debut (Nov. 13) » Picked up first career double-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds and a block in 10 minutes vs. MDES » Scored 10 points with 7 boards, 3 assists and a block vs. Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 18) » Averaged 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds during her freshman season HIGH SCHOOL » Earned WBCA High School All-America honors and was named the Gatorade State Player of the year for Georgia » Named the No. 17 overall player by both ESPN and the Collegiate Girls Report and the No. 1 player in the state of Georgia » Also ranked No. 29 player overall by the All Star Girls Report » Averaged 26.2 points and 13.7 rebounds per game with 4.2 blocks and 2.3 assists as a senior » Led the Wolverines to a record of 25-7 and to the program’s first Class AAAAAA state semifinal appearance » Finished her career with 2,623 points, 1,598 rebounds and 421 blocks, all of which are Forsyth County records » Once scored 51 points in a game » Named Player of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Atlanta Tip-Off Club’s Miss Georgia Basketball as a senior » Nationally-ranked swimmer prior to playing basketball and won a state title in swimming PERSONAL » Daughter of Jim and Sandi Staiti » Her mother played volleyball at Providence College and her father played basketball at Presbyterian and Erskine College » Was a state and sectional champion in backstroke and swam with Swim Atlanta » Only really started playing basketball seriously as a freshman in high school » Major: Undecided
GET TO KNOW JENNA STAITI We heard you were actually a really good swimmer before you played basketball. When did you start swimming? “I was always kind of around it. My parents just kind of threw me in the water, but competitively probably fifth grade. I swam all the way through freshman year.” What is it like to be able to play close to home now? "It is cool because my parents can come over, my friends all go here, and my brother goes here. It is different, because I get to see everyone. I feel like I was so far away from everything. It is nice to be connected back to everything." When did you start playing basketball? “They asked me to play on the seventh grade team, because I was so tall. I ended up liking it a lot and just stuck with it."
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What has been your best memory so far in college? “We played UCONN when I was at Maryland and that was alot of fun. It was a sold out game, it was really cool. A lot of the places we traveled were cool, because the coaches would take us to the big parts of the cities and tour around.” Do you have any pregame rituals? “I like to eat the gummies in our locker room. They are called stingers. I have to have those before games and I have to chew on ice. It’s weird. No music, no nothing, just that. I don’t like to have my phone close to games.” What is the best game you have had in your career? “In high school, I played at West Georgia in the final four. I had 51 points. I remember walking in nobody liked me at all and the fans were against me, but after the game they all came up to me and were like “Dang, this girl can play!”. They were booing me and everything. I don’t like to talk much or so facials. I don’t know how they didn’t like me, I guess they were just trying to get in my head."