COLLEGE SIGNING: Saints' Fuller headed to Central Carolina CC

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 27, 2017 9:59 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Ebony Fuller is not a scorer.

Nor does she crash the boards.

In fact, the diminutive point guard hardly fills the boxscore on any given night.

Defense is her calling card.

"Scoring has not always been a strong part for me," said Fuller, who'd rather pass the ball or cause a turnover to start a fast break.

"When it comes to defense, I just feel stronger because I know nobody can get past me."

That mentality caught the attention of Central Carolina Community College head coach Frank Scutiere who actually visited "The Halo" to scout other players.

Scutiere returned to see Fuller again.

They exchanged emails.

Fuller and the SW coaching toured the campus.

"He asked me for my final decision," Fuller said. "I was like, 'well I want to play basketball. I want to go college.' They have what I was looking for (academically).

"It felt like the right fit."

Fuller signed a national letter-of-intent with the Cougars, who regained their varsity status for the 2017-18 season. Scutiere's team played club basketball this past winter.

Central Carolina competes in the Division III Region X (10) Tarheel Conference.

"They've got a new fresh thing going on and with me being a freshman, I feel confident...comfortable," Fuller said. "I'm good at paying attention, making sure that everything is in order on the court."

During her first two varsity seasons, Fuller served as the understudy to Zaria Atkins, who just completed her freshman campaign at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne University.

Fuller embraced the role as the Saints' court general and stamina was never a concern with the coaching staff. She hardly stepped off the court unless she either needed a sip of water or encountered foul trouble.

And the out-spoken senior certainly didn't hesitate to make suggestions during timeouts.

SW head coach Takisha Vann recalled numerous occasions where Fuller spoke up, and proposed either a change on offense or defense due to the other team's tendencies.

Vann loved that court awareness.

"She started thinking outside the box about the game instead of working off her talent," Vann said. "She really improved. Confidence was her biggest thing (and) being a leader for us.

"(Scutiere) likes her work ethic, the potential to what it could be (in the college game). He's probably going to help develop her offense. I am pretty sure on defense she's going to help a lot because that is one of her strongest points."

Fuller filed a modest career statline -- 69 games, 118 points, 129 rebounds, 65 assists and 67 steals. She plans to pursue a degree in the health and physical science field.