For a while now, Taber Spani has been leaning toward playing college basketball at Tennessee.
By the time her official visit to the school was over, she was convinced of it. And on Monday morning, Spani, a 6-foot-1 senior guard from Metro Academy, called legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and made it official.
“Tennessee has been on my heart,” said Spani, whose oral commitment to the defending national champions ended a recruiting journey that has lasted for more than a year. “Coming off the visit, I just felt like it was the perfect time to announce it.”
ESPN.com ranks Spani, who lives in Lee’s Summit and averaged 29.6 points, 11 rebounds, 3.4 assists, three blocks and 2.4 steals a game last season, as the No. 3 guard and No. 13 overall player in the class of 2009. Last year, she led Metro Academy — a Christian home-schooled team composed of players from the Kansas City area — to a second-place finish in the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships.
For her efforts, Spani won the DiRenna Award, which honors the top boys and girls basketball players in the metro area, and received the interest of several big-time programs, including Connecticut, which she dropped from consideration in June.
Her final decision came down to Tennessee and Kansas State, where her sister Shalin is currently a sophomore guard and her father, Gary — a former linebacker for the Chiefs — is an alumnus.
“I was really looking at Kansas State, especially with the family ties I have there,” Spani said. “But as the summer went on it became clear that Tennessee was special, and the visit just confirmed that. It definitely wasn’t an overnight decision.”
Spani followed a recent in-home visit by Summitt by touring the campus over the weekend and came away impressed by the fans, the atmosphere and her future teammates.
“It’s about the amazing challenge of going to what’s arguably the best school in the country for women’s basketball,” said Spani, who can’t sign a letter of intent until November. “I wanted to play for the best, play with the best and play against the best.”
Spani knows she has room to improve, and she is confident Summitt can help her reach her potential.
“I love how driven she is for excellence, and it shows with how much success she’s had,” Spani said of Summitt. “As amazing and successful as she is on the court, she is off the court, as well.
“She is so honest and straightforward and she sincerely cares about her players. I know when I go there, she’ll challenge me and make me better, and that’s what I’m looking for.”
However, that doesn’t mean Spani will stop cheering for Kansas State or her sister — she says their relationship transcends basketball.
“With my sister there — and I love her so much — even though I’m going to be at Tennessee and loving it, a part of me will always root for K-State,” Spani said.
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