TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After the second trip to the Elite 8 in school history the Florida State Women's team is adding another piece. Australian guard Rachel Antoniadou has signed her National Letter of Intent to play for the Seminoles starting in 2015-2016.
“I love the versatility and basketball IQ that Rachel brings to the court,” FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. “She is a great fit for our system and our system is a great fit for her. Even more importantly, she is driven and passionate about the game and her teammates. She is a young woman with strong character and vision. We are thrilled that she has joined the Seminole family!"
Antoniadou joins Spanish forward Maria Conde as part of this year’s recruiting class. Antoniadou is an offensively skilled performer who has a knock-down long-range jumper, a good handle in the back court and is an excellent passer. In FSU’s current offense that relies heavily on spacing the floor and sharing the basketball, Antoniadou should play a key role.
The 5-foot-9 talent from Clayton, which is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is currently competing for the Dandenong Rangers in the Australia State League. In 2013, she averaged 25 minutes and scored 13.9 points per game, averaged 3.9 rebounds and dished out 2.5 assists. She has been a part of the Rangers for a while, participating on the U18 and youth squads.
Antoniadou has also played for the U18 Victoria Country squad and participated on the U18 Australian National Team in the 2014 Oceania Championship in Fiji. In six games, she averaged 9.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Her top performance of the tournament came in a 17-point effort which included three 3-point field goals as Australia defeated New Caledonia.
Antoniadou helped the Australians to the Oceania title with a 98-65 win over New Zealand on Dec. 6, 2014. She was part of a group that averaged 115.5 points en route to a 6-0 finish at the tournament.
The versatile guard joins a Seminole squad in the 2015-16 season that will challenge for its first ever NCAA Final Four after reaching the Elite Eight for the second time in program history this past season. Starting guards Leticia Romero and Brittany Brown return for their junior seasons, giving the Seminoles even more depth in the back court with the addition of Antoniadou.
Antoniadou’s arrival in Tallahassee will make her the first Australian-born player to suit up for the Florida State Women’s Basketball team. Since Semrau became FSU’s head coach in the 1997-98 season, she has coached 10 international players which includes five since the 2014-15 season.
***FSU Athletics
