Buffs Sign Arielle Roberson To National Letter Of Intent

BOULDER - Arielle Roberson has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball and continue her education at the University of Colorado in 2011-12, CU head coach Linda Lappe announced Friday, during the NCAA spring signing period.

Roberson, 6-foot-1 forward from San Antonio, is a 2011 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) and Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) All-State pick. She averaged 18.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, three steals and two blocks per game while guiding Wagner High School to a 32-7 record, advancing to the semifinals of the Texas 5A State Tournament.

"I want to be part of bringing back the tradition to Colorado," Roberson said. "There's so much pride there, from when coach Lappe played, going to NCAA tournaments and I want to help bring that back and take it to the next level.

"I liked the improvements they made throughout (last season), the attitude of the players, and you saw that in the postseason. Give credit to the coaching staff, they are trying to restore the tradition and that's what I'm all about. The coaches were consistent through the recruiting process and I developed a good relationship with them. I feel very comfortable there."
 
A multiple all-region and all-district performer, Roberson also shot 57 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free-throw line as a senior. She finished her career at Wagner with 1,640 points.

She was unanimously chosen as the District 25-5A MVP as a senior and was also a McDonald's All-American nominee and the MVP of the Lone Star Invitational Tournament. Roberson, who was selected to play in the TABC Girls All-Star Game in May, was a part of three state tournament teams at Wagner sporting a four-year record of 133-15.

"She has one of the best basketball IQ's that I've ever had the opportunity to coach, and a lot of that has to do with her family background," Wagner girls basketball head coach Christina Camacho said. "Being raised in that environment, your understand the IQ of the game, and you rarely find kids like that now a days that understand the game in that sense."

The fourth of seven Roberson siblings, Arielle joins older brother Andre in Boulder, who was a freshman standout for the CU men's basketball team this past season, helping the Buffaloes to a school record 24 wins. Her parents, John (basketball) and Lisa (volleyball), were both student-athletes at New Mexico State University. An older sister Ashlee was a three-year letterwinner at Texas Tech University (2007-10) and another sister Amber will be a senior on the University of Texas volleyball team next fall.

"Arielle brings a lot to our team in terms of her versatility, toughness, competiveness, work ethic, energy, and athleticism," Lappe said. "She can play on the perimeter or in the paint which will make her a tough match up for opposing teams.  In addition, she is a great defender and rebounder and like the rest of our early signees, she has high character and integrity."

Roberson is the fourth member of CU's 2011 signing class. Lexy Kresl, a 5-foot-11 guard from Paradise Valley, Ariz., Jen Reese, a 6-2 forward from Clackamas, Ore., and Jasmine Sborov, a 6-1 guard from Round Rock, Texas, signed in November during the NCAA's early period.

Colorado finished the 2010-11 season at 18-16, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Postseason WNIT. The Buffaloes tied for eighth place in their final season in the Big 12 Conference and will join the Pacific-12 Conference for the 2011-12 season.