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Buher leaving, four arriving

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:02 PM

You can scratch Senior Day 2011 for the Illinois women's basketball team. There won't be one.

Freshman Chelsea Buher, the only player remaining in the Class of 2011 after fellow guard Lydia McCully took a redshirt this year, said Wednesday she is transferring to another school.

Buher, a 5-foot-11 guard from Lawrenceville, played in 28 games, averaging 7.2 minutes and 1.5 points. Though she originally committed to the previous coaching staff, Buher elected to stay with her choice after Jolette Law was hired.

"I did enjoy playing for Coach Law," Buher said. "She's a great person to be around. I just really didn't feel like I was the right fit for the upcoming seasons. But I'll never regret sticking out the entire year or even coming here. Once you make a decision, I tell myself never to look back, just continue to look forward and make the best of it."

Buher said the other schools on her final list during the recruiting process -- including Illinois State, Indiana State and Evansville -- remain possibilities for her next school. She also said she has sent her release to Oregon State, which is coached by former UI assistant LaVonda Wagner.

"CB is a very good player and I know wherever she goes she's going to do extremely well," Law said. "I'm fortunate to have an opportunity to work with her, and I just want her to be fulfilled and do well."

While Buher leaves, the Illini signed four players Wednesday during the first day of the spring signing period. That group includes point guards Fabiola Josil of Florida and Eboni Mitchell of Georgia along with forward TeAndrea Smith of East St. Louis. The fourth player is JUCO transfer Whitney Toone, a 6-foot guard/forward from Okaloosa-Walton College in Florida. Toone was a high school teammate of Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince at Murry Burgtraum High in New York before going to Oak Hill Academy. Toone averaged 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and two assists for Okaloosa-Walton.

More in Thursday's News-Gazette.