Quartet of Eagles recognized during Spring Signing Day Ceremony

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (April 23, 2015) – Four student-athletes at Tallahassee Community College took center stage on Thursday afternoon as the Eagles hosted its annual Spring Signing Day Ceremony. 

Cameron Smith and Elmo Stephen from the men’s basketball team along with women’s basketball standouts Karley Barnes and Cat Wells took turns in the spotlight, each announcing where he or she will attend school beginning as early as the summer term. 

Smith and Stephen will remain teammates, as both signed with Florida International University; Barnes inked with the University of Minnesota; and Wells announced she will be attending Ball State University. 

Smith, a Tallahassee native, will have three years of eligibility remaining at FIU after playing only one season at TCC. After a preseason injury forced him to sit out the 2013-14 season, Smith immediately joined the starting lineup this past season. In 22 games, he averaged 9.3 points, a team-high 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while also pacing the Eagles with a 61.3 percent shooting percentage. As a result, Smith garnered second-team all-Panhandle Conference honors from league coaches while the PC media voted him to the all-freshmen team. 

Stephen, a native of Auburndale, Fla., blossomed into a hot commodity during his sophomore season, averaging 15.8 points, which ranked second on the team, along with 4.0 rebounds. Known for his 3-point shooting, Stephen knocked down just under 40.0 percent (39.1) of his attempts from long distance. He also finished with four 30-point games this past season en route to being named First-team All-Panhandle Conference by both the league coaches and media.   

As native Floridians, both players cited location – FIU is located in Miami – as a key factor in choosing to sign with the Golden Panthers while Smith was also drawn to FIU because of his plans to study marine biology. 

FIU competes as a member of Conference USA, where Smith and Stephen will be joined next year by current TCC teammate Dirk Williams (University of Alabama-Birmingham and former Eagle Earvin Morris (University of Texas-El Paso). 

Barnes, a native of Milwaukee, Wis., represents the first “BCS Conference” signee for women’s head coach Franqua “Q” Bedell. At Minnesota, she will be coached by Marlene Stollings, who Bedell worked under at Virginia Commonwealth prior to being hired by TCC in 2013. Barnes joined the Eagles’ program in 2012 but redshirted during the 2013-14 campaign before returning to the court this past season. In 2014-15, she played in 28 games, averaged 7.6 points and led the team in rebounds (6.3 rpg) and blocks (0.8 bpg). She was named First-team All-Panhandle Conference by league coaches. 

Located in Minneapolis, Minn., the Golden Gophers compete as a member of the Big Ten Conference. 

Like Barnes, Wells, a native of Toledo, Ohio, is returning closer to home for her final two seasons. After transferring to Tallahassee from Winthrop University, where she played her freshman season, Wells led the Eagles in scoring (14.0 ppg), assists (3.1 apg) and steals (2.4 spg) in 2014-15. Primarily a contributor off the bench, she provided a spark that kept Tallahassee’s Chaos 40 attack in full effect and, in the process, earned first-team all-conference honors by league coaches and was a second-team pick by the PC media. 

Ball State, a member of the Mid-American Conference, is located in Muncie, Ind.