By Robert Taylor Jr.
DIMENSIONS Staff Writer
Didi Reynolds, Dwan Shackleford, Courtney Coleman, LaToya Turner and Tanya McClure were used to seeing no more than 2,000 people at one of their high school basketball games. And oftentimes, they stayed within Ohio to play those games.
How things change so drastically in a matter of months.
They are the freshmen on the Ohio State women's basketball team, who must perform two jobs this year - playing basketball and adapting.
The latter includes playing in arenas that can hold at least 10,000 people, traveling into other states for road games, and sometimes playing in front of a national television audience. Whether or not they can adapt has yet to be seen, but they have proven that they can effectively perform the first job.
Reynolds led Portage Hopewell-Loudon High School to their first-ever state basketball title earlier this year and was the Ohio District IV player of the year three consecutive years.
Shackleford led Newark High School to a 22-4 record last year, received honorable mention from the Associated Press and was a force on the school's track team.
Coleman ranked sixth in Ohio in rebounding for Cincinnat Hughes High School and was a member of the Cincinnati Enquirer's Division I All-Star team.
Turner led pickerington High School to back-to-back state titles and was a member of USA Today's Super 25.
McClure holds Gahanna-Lincoln High School's record for points (1,196) and her team was 63-11 when she was in the lineup.
The No. 2 women's freshman recruiting class in the country will try to aid senior Michaela Moua, junior Tomeka Brown and other teammates in OSU's quest to enter the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
As long as the sophomores, juniors and seniors do their job, the Lady Buckeyes have a good chance of achieving that feat, as long as the feshmen do their job.
Make that both of their jobs.
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