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Former area prep standout to join Lady Frogs Rentschler played the past season at Texas as true freshman
May 5, 2008
FORT WORTH--Rachel Rentschler, a former top-30 national recruit who played prep ball in the Fort Worth high school ranks, intends to enroll at TCU and join the Lady Frog basketball team this fall, Head Coach Jeff Mittie announced Monday. The 6-2 forward played during the past season for Texas as a true freshman.
"We are excited to have Rachel join our program," Mittie said. "We recruited her very heavily in high school, when she was one of the top recruits in the nation. She has the ability to play either the 3 or 4 positions for us and is a physical, hard-nosed player who really has all the intangibles that a coach is looking for."
Rentschler finished her freshman campaign last month averaging 11.8 minutes per game while playing in 34 of UT's 35 contests, including each of the Longhorns' two NCAA Tournament matchups. She totaled season averages of 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game and ranked second on the team with 18 blocked shots. She shot 41-of-105 from the field overall and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line for the season.
Her career-high scoring effort of 13 points was recorded during a Nov. 15 win over Lamar, when she went 6-of-9 from the field. She also totaled career highs with five rebounds and 21 minutes played against the Cardinals.
A native of Keller, Texas, Rentschler put together one of the top high school careers in Texas history while playing for Fort Worth Christian High School from 2004 through 2007. She led the Cardinals to three TAPPS 5A state titles her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons and was named the 2007 Chevrolet Female Athlete of the Year as a senior for the state of Texas. She ranks as the state's sixth-leading scorer all-time with 3,215 points, and her 899 points as a sophomore in 2004-05 set the National Christian School Athletic Association record (NCSAA).
Rentschler was rated as one of the nation's top recruits prior to enrolling at Texas. Both Scout.com/HoopGurlz.com and Rise Magazine tabbed her as the nation's No. 26 overall recruit, including the third-best prospect in Texas and No. 8 forward nationally.
In addition to the high ratings, Rentschler also raked in several other honors during her decorated prep career. She was a finalist for the 2007 McDonald's High School All-America Game and earned honorable-mention All-America honors from Street & Smith's Magazine in both 2006 and 2006. Her selection to the NCSAA All-America First Team in 2005 and 2006 made her the lone sophomore and junior to be named to the five-player team during the respective seasons. Rentschler earned her third selection as a senior in 2007.
Rentschler becomes the fourth highly-touted transfer to join the Lady Frogs in the past 12 months. Juniors Chantelle John (George Washington), TK LaFleur (Nebraska) and Eboni Mangum (Louisiana Tech) each will be eligible to play next season after sitting out the 2007-08 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules. The group will aid TCU in its attempt at replacing a five-player senior class that concluded its Frog tenure last month.
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