AAC player of year Battles transferring from UCF to Georgia

Posted May 02, 2022 7:00 am

The Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - American Athletic Conference player of the year Diamond Battles is following her coach to Georgia.

The Lady Bulldogs announced Monday that Battles is transferring from Central Florida, allowing her to continue playing for new Georgia coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson.

Battles was a unanimous choice to the All-AAC first team this past season, also claiming defensive player of the year and MVP honors in the league tournament.

She will be a fifth-year senior for the Lady Bulldogs, who are preparing for their first season under the former UCF coach. Abrahamson-Henderson was hired by Georgia after Joni Taylor left for Texas A&M.

'œDiamond Battles is one of the nation's most elite players, and I look forward to seeing the impact she will have on this program," Abrahamson-Henderson said. 'œShe is a relentless defender who can score and distribute the basketball as a next-level point guard. She is also a leader and someone teammates love to play with.'ť

The 5-foot-8 Battles led the Knights with 13.9 points per game to go along with 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals. UCF won the league's regular-season and tournament titles, earned its highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament and finished 26-4.

Battles also played a major role in the nation's top-ranked defense. UCF allowed just 47.8 points per game.

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More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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