UD women's basketball recruit Cornelie going to prep school

French player Cornelie will work on credits before joining Flyers.

University of Dayton women’s basketball coach Jim Jabir will have to wait a year longer than he planned for one of his recruits from a strong 2011 class to arrive on campus.

Jodie Cornelie, a 6-foot-4 center who played on the U-17 French national team last year, needs more time to get her English credits in order and will play for Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., this season. She’s been released from her UD letter of intent, but Jabir is confident Cornelie will become a Flyer in 2012-13.

UD has five other scholarships in the ’12 class, one of which has been taken by Carroll High School star Kelley Austria.

“Jodie is a fine player and a good student, and this will give her every chance to be a success on the court and in the classroom,” Jabir said. “This will help her get her English down.”

The Flyers will have a solid veteran nucleus next season and weren’t necessarily counting on Cornelie to play right away.

“The only bad thing is she doesn’t have a year to acclimate. She’s going to get thrown in right away (when she enrolls),” Jabir said. “But she’s a national-level player.”

The Flyers have just two recruits in the ’11 class, but both are highly regarded players. Ally Malott, a 6-3 forward from Middletown Madison, was a McDonald’s All-American, and Andrea Hoover, a 5-8 guard from Spring Valley Academy, made ESPNU’s list of Super 60 prospects.

Jabir also announced he filled a vacancy on his staff with Christine Vozab, who has been an assistant at Winthrop and Canisius. She’ll take the place of associate head coach Kyle Rechlicz, who left to become an assistant at Wisconsin, her alma mater.

Vozab was Jabir’s point guard when he coached at Providence.

“Christine will be great. There is a good level of trust,” Jabir said. “She knows what I like and what I want.”

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