MIAMI (May 26, 2017) -- FIU women's basketball announces the additions of two local rival prep stars, Tamiracle Taylor and Shante Walker, to join the Panthers for the 2017-18 campaign. Both players were named Sun-Sentinel All-Broward County players, with Walker taking the Broward County Girls Basketball Player of the Year title from the publication last year.
 
"I'm very excited to add Shante and Tamiracle to our 2017 recruiting class," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "Being able to add local talents with championship pedigrees at the high school level is an important aspect to aid in the growth of the program."
 
Taylor, a guard from Fort Lauderdale, is listed at 5-feet-8 and played for the Fort Lauderdale Flying L's for four seasons, joining the 1,000-point club in high school. Her Flying L's squad earned a conference championship in 2016, a district championship and a pair of regional finals appearances. She averaged 16.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 steals per game on her way to earning First-Team All-County honors. She also played for the Miami Suns youth development program for three seasons. She plans on majoring in biology at FIU, with a desire to explore a career as an orthodontist or a paramedic. 
 
"Tamiracle is a player who always looks to get better on and off the court," added Malcom. "Her strength and athleticism will allow her to play multiple positions, while her toughness and willingness to compete will allow her to earn minutes right away."
 
Walker hails from nearby West Park and played for the South Broward Lady Bulldogs for four seasons. The Lady Bulldogs were the Florida State Runner-up this past season, winning four district titles and a regional championship in 2016-17. Walker, who can play multiple positions, posted 25 points and 13 rebounds as South Broward eliminated Fort Lauderdale in the Broward County Athletic Association final. Then she went for 16 and 11 to put out the Flying L's out of the regional final for the season year in a row. The Lady Bulldogs finished 25-5 and finished undefeated in Broward County for the season. Walker averaged a double-double her entire high school career, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while adding five assists and two steals this past season. She also played with the Hollywood Eagles for the past six summers. Her plan is to major in criminal justice and wants to continue to play basketball and pursue a career in criminal justice following that pursuit.
 
"Shante is a special player who also brings an added toughness to her game," noted Malcom. "Her versatility and ability to play multiple positions will allow us to use her in a variety of ways on the offensive end of the floor."
 
Taylor and Walker add to the early signing class of Shionna Banks, Callie Cavanaugh, Cabria Lee and Lauryn Snipes for the six-member signing class for this FIU coaching staff, which enters its second season together.
 
For women's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBB) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWBasketball) for all the latest FIU women's basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.