On Tuesday, the Pensacola State women's basketball team announced the signing of India's 5'7 guard Vaishnavi Yadav.
Over the past couple of years, Vaishnavi has been making a name for herself in the Indian basketball circles.
This time, last year, during the 69th Junior National Championship, she scored a record 71 points, the most by a Women's player at the national level . At that tournament, she was named the MVP as she led her state Uttar Pradesh to a third-place finish in the Women's category.
A month later, at the NBA Academy India's first-ever Women's camp, Vaishnavi shared the MVP honors with Sanjana Ramesh :
#NBAAcademy India Women's Camp MVP, Vaishnavi Yadav dreams of a day when a woman baller will become an Indian household name. This is her story. pic.twitter.com/zQS5i8v2T6
— NBAIndia (@NBAIndia) June 11, 2018
In October 2017, she played a huge role in India securing the top spot in Division B at the FIBA U-16 Women's Asia Championship, earning the the country a promotion to Division A for the next edition of the tournament.
In the official release, Pensacola Head coach Penny Belford says, "We are very excited to have Vaishnavi join the Lady Pirate family. She will bring a wealth of playing experience and excitement for the upcoming season."
On the signing, Vaishnavi Yadav said, "I am very excited to have the tremendous opportunity to attend Pensacola State University. I would like to thank India Basketball, NBA Academy Women's Program, and Coach Blair Hardiek for making this possible. I hope to take India to the next level by learning all I can about the game and then sharing the knowledge with other basketball players from my country. I hope I can inspire others from India to work hard and go for their dreams."