USA TODAY High School Sports Unveils 2012 Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Basketball Team

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY High School Sports, the nation's leading source for high school sports news and information, celebrates 30 years of honoring achievements in girls basketball by unveiling the 2012 Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls High School Basketball Team, spotlighting the most promising female players in the country for the upcoming season.

Norcross High School (Ga.) senior Diamond DeShields — a 6-1 shooting guard and North Carolina commit — is the only returning player from the 2011-2012 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Basketball Team.  DeShields, who was named to the 2011 ALL-USA second team as a junior, led her team to a 26-6 record and a state semifinal finish with an average of 21.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last year.   

The full 2012 Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls High School Basketball Team appears online today at http://www.usatodayhss.com and in tomorrow's print edition of USA TODAY.  The ALL-USA Team and its year-end player and coach awards have been given out annually since 1982 and are considered the highest such honors in high school sports. 

Two juniors — Kelsey Mitchell of Princeton HS (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Brianna Turner of Manvel HS (Texas)  — are the sole non-seniors on this year's Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Basketball Team. Mitchell — a 5-7 guard and the daughter of Taft HS (Cincinnati, Ohio) boys basketball coach Mark Mitchell — averaged 20.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals last season.  Turner, a 6-3 guard, averaged 20.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 4.7 blocks during the 2011 season, leading her team to a 34-3 record.  

Also leading this year's ALL-USA Girls Basketball Team is 6-5 center Mercedes Russell of Springfield HS (Ore.).  The Tennessee-bound Russell — a two-time 5A state player of the year who led her team last year to its second consecutive 5A state title — averaged 26.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 6.0 blocks last year.  Three-year starter Taya Reimer of Hamilton Southeastern HS (Fishers, Ind.) — a 6-3, Notre Dame-bound power forward who averaged 19.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per game last season— has also been named to the squad.

Other standouts on the ALL-USA Girls Team include 5-7 Kentucky-bound guard Linnae Harper of Whitney Young HS (Chicago, Ill.), who led her team to a 34-0 record and a state 4A title while averaging 18.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game; and undecided senior Erica McCall of Ridgeview HS (Bakersfield, Calif.). The sister of WNBA player DeWanna Bonner, McCall averaged 25.8 points, 16.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 7.1 blocks per game last season. 

The other members of the 2012 Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls High School Basketball Team are Kaela Davis of Buford HS (Ga.), a 6-2, Georgia Tech-bound shooting guard who averaged 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game; 6-1 Duke-bound shooting guard Rebecca Greenwell of Owensboro Catholic (Ky.), who averaged 32.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.9 steals and will return after missing last season with a torn ACL; and Stephanie Mavunga of Brownsburg HS (Ind.), a 6-3 North Carolina-bound forward who averaged 21.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.1 blocks, 2.4 steals and 1.5 assists last season. 

The 10-player team was selected by USA TODAY Sports' Jim Halley with help from recruiting experts Mike Flynn and Chris Menning of Blue Star Basketball and Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

Following is the complete listing of this year's preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA High School Girls Basketball Team as determined by USA TODAY High School Sports. For more information on the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Team, visit http://www.usatodayhss.com.

USA TODAY High School Sports

Preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA High School Girls Basketball Team

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