Nikki Arbanas, Morgan Olson, Krista Pietropola and Kelley Wright have signed a National Letter of Intent to continue their academic and basketball careers at Youngstown State University under head coach John Barnes.
Arbanas (Hermitage, Pa.), Pietropola (Plum, Pa.) and Wright (Hessel, Mich.) are guards while Olson (Nappanee, Ind.) is a forward.
Arbanas, a 5-foot-9 guard from who plays at Hickory High School, which is located 20 miles from YSU's campus. She scored a team-high 471 points as a junior, averaging 18.2 points and 2.8 assists with a high-scoring game of 31 points against Oil City. She led Hickory to a 21-5 record and a spot in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs. Arbanas made five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points in the playoff loss to South Park. She helped the Hornets to a spot in the District 10 Class AAA semifinals as a sophomore.
Olson is a 6-foot forward who plays at NorthWood High School, which is approximately 30 miles southeast of South Bend, Ind. Olson is a three-time first-team all-conference selection and has led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding in each of her first three seasons. She averaged 19.9 points and was fifth in the state in rebounding as a junior. She registered 16 double-doubles while scoring 30 points twice and grabbing 16 rebounds on four occasions. She was invited to Indiana's Top 100 Underclassmen Showcase, was named to the IBCA Underclassman All-State First Team and was an Indiana Elite 3A Junior All-Star selection. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player at the Indiana Class Basketball All-Star Classic. NorthWood is currently ranked fourth this season in Class 3A in Indiana.
Pietropola is a 6-foot guard who plays at Plum High School in Pittsburgh. She averaged 16.8 points and seven rebounds as a junior in leading the Mustangs to a 17-6 record and a spot in the WPIAL playoffs. Those 17 wins were the most at the school since at least 1983-84. She was named to the Post-Gazette's East Fabulous Five as a junior for her efforts, and she enters her senior year with 998 points in her career. She has been the runner-up for the WPIAL scoring lead in the last two years, and she is a three-time first-team all-section honoree. ESPN rated her as a three-star recruit and the 75th-best player in the country at her position. Pietropola also finished 13th in the state in the high jump during track and field season.
Wright is a 5-foot-11 guard at St. Ignace LaSalle High School located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a junior for the Class D state championship team. In Wright's three years, the Saints are 78-2, have won the state title twice and advanced to the semifinals another time. She has scored as many as 40 points in a game and connected on an Upper Peninsula record nine 3-pointers in a contest against Sault High. Over a three-game stretch this past January, she averaged 31 points, 10 steals, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists. As a junior she was a unanimous Class D Associated Press All-State selection, an All-U.P Dream Team honoree and the Straits Area Conference Player of the Year.
Youngstown State went 23-10 last season with a runner-up finish in the Horizon League and a berth in the WNIT. Barnes is in his first year as the program's head coach.
