LEE, Maine — When Lee Academy admissions officials went to Bangor International Airport to greet a couple of new high school students from Senegal, they were stunned by what they saw, according to athletic director Randy Harris.
“We were told there were two kids from Senegal [on the west coast of Africa],” said Harris, who is also the high school boys basketball coach at the school a few miles east of Lincoln.
All Harris knew was that one was a boy and the other a girl.
“We knew nothing about her,” said Harris. “I thought she would be the usual 5-[foot-]6, 5-7 girl. Instead, this 6-5 girl comes off the plane.”
The girl is Khady Toure (pronounced Ha’-dee Touray, the “K” is silent) and she will have an immediate impact on a Panda girls basketball team that is seeking to improve on last year’s 0-18 record.
Toure, a junior, isn’t the only addition, though, as senior Jordan Maxwell transferred from Hampden Academy two weeks ago after moving in with her father.
Maxwell is very familiar with the town and school.
“She was born and raised here, and she lived in Lee until her freshman year,” Harris said.
Maxwell started at guard for the Broncos last year and can be a hot 3-point shooter.
Ollie Faulkner, the assistant headmaster, said Toure applied to Lee during the summer and trying out for sports is open to everyone.
“We admit 270 kids, and they all have the chance to go and try out,” he said.
No one at the school has any idea of the athletic potential of the students, including the foreign ones.
“There’s no place for height and weight on the application form,” said Faulkner.
Faulkner said Toure made quite a first impression.
“She was a huge surprise to see, physically,” he said, then pointed out that she’s trying to fit in, and apparently succeeding.
“She’s wonderful around campus, always happy,” Faulkner added, “and she gets along with everybody.”
With Maxwell’s ability and experience on the outside and Toure’s presence in the paint, the Pandas of first-year head coach Candace Gifford could prove to be a much more formidable opponent in Eastern Maine Class C this year.
UPDATE: This story has been corrected. Athletic Director Randy Harris did not pick up the students from Senegal when they arrived in Bangor.
Uh, oh…..
Recruiting 101, they had no idea my butt….
Nice to see the the Lee Academy finally showing some equity in their sports programs. The Boy’s B-Ball team has been recruiting for years.
dbarber@bangordailynews.com didn’t do much research on this article.
Khady Toure transferred from Riverdale Baptist in Maryland who is ranked
#1 in Maryland and # 10 nationally, so who thinks they were surprised
to hear that she was a 6’5″ basketball player. Check out her facebook
page, she lists herself occupation as a basketball player. She is rumored to be
receiving D1 scholarship offers already. How would Lee Academy, with
their close D1 ties not know this about her?
dbarber@bangordailynews.com didn’t do much research on this article.
Khady Toure transferred from Riverdale Baptist in Maryland who is ranked
#1 in Maryland and # 10 nationally, so who thinks they were surprised
to hear that she was a 6’5″ basketball player. Check out her facebook
page, she lists herself as a basketball player. She is rumored to be
receiving D1 scholarship offers already. How would Lee Academy, with
their close D1 ties not know this about her?
Lee Academy is a JOKE with it’s blatant athletic recruiting practices. I cannot believe that the State Principals Assn simply sits by and allows this “crap” to happen. What makes it worse is that Lee doesn’t even have the “guts” to admit to what they are doing, At least Cheverus admits to what they do..
Their applications ask what sports have they played and intend to play at Lee Academy. So they don’t know anything about what they might play, right.
knew nothing about her?
interesting…….
http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=BWSLMDGIRLSBBALL&t=c&s=basketball&p=photocat&albumID=5886
oh well life goes on….