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Putting ink to paper on Tuesday, April 20, Johnna Stripling made the leap from former Spartanburg Viking to future Spartanburg Methodist Pioneer.
Stripling was the second area player recruited by SMC Women’s Basketball Head Coach MJ Napfzger. The previous week Dorman’s Ashia Mitchell signed on to the SMC program.
Will it be difficult for Stripling to put the Dorman/Spartanburg rivalry behind her and team up with Mitchell?
Stripling said, “I’ve played in All Star games with her and ever since we we’re little I played with her in AAU (basketball so) I’ve got a feel for her.” She expects the transition with Mitchell to SMC should go smoothly.
Stripling said being close to home and having her family able to continue to attend her games played a major role in why she chose SMC. “Starting out, being a freshman, I didn’t want to go far (from home).”
She’ll be majoring in Computer Science and noted SMC’s academic reputation also played a major role in her choice. She also liked the fact that class sizes are small with a good student to teacher ratio. Then there’s the fact that Coach MJ pursued her. “I like her a lot. She showed she wanted me more than all the other colleges. If I work with her hard, she’ll get me to a four year college.”
Nafzger hopes the previous experience of playing together will help both Stripling and Mitchell to transition nicely and translate into a wining season and a trip to nationals.
For the rest of the story, see this week’s Hometown News Sports Page.
Photo by Leon G. Russ
Everyone was all smiles when Spartanburg’s Johnna Stripling signed to continue her academic and basketball career at Spartanburg Methodist College on Tuesday, April 20.
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