Fuston Named Big 12 Rookie of the Year
November 01, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 1, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech freshman forward Jessica Fuston became the first Red Raider to win one of the Big 12 Conference's top postseason awards as she was named the 2010 Big 12 Rookie of the Year. Fuston and junior defender Whitney Sharpe were both selected All-Big 12 second team, while garnering Big 12 All-Newcomer team honors as well. All awards were voted on by the league coaches.
Three times this season Fuston was honored by the Big 12 as the Newcomer of the Week, reaping the award more than another new player in the league. She finished the conference season ranked second in goals (6) and tied for second in points (14).
The last two years Tech has had more players on the All-Newcomer team than any other Big 12 school as the Red Raiders tied two other schools with having two players named to team this year, while last year Tech led the conference with three players on the All-Newcomer team.
Fuston, a native of Cedar Park, Texas - just outside of Austin, has played in all 19 matches with 17 starts for the Red Raiders as she leads the team with 22 points and 10 goals. She is also first on the team in shots (50) and shots-on-goal (30). Earlier this year she was named to the Top 100 Freshmen to Watch by TopDrawerSoccer.com as well as being named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week after her first weekend of collegiate competition.
"We knew that when Jessica Fuston committed to Texas Tech that we had a special young lady on her way to Lubbock," said head coach Tom Stone. "Off the field, Jess is an excellent student and is a great representative of the kind of student-athlete Texas Tech hopes to attract into our programs. On the field we knew that we had a high level goal scorer to play up top in 2010. Jess' performance so far this year has certainly been what we had hoped for - very calm in front of goal, tremendous in the air offensively and a surprising maturity in back to goal situations for a player so young.
"When our midfield lost three of the four starters this year, I wondered how Jess was going to get the ball in order to get chances but she never missed a beat and just kept on scoring. The real testament to the season she has had is that 60 percent of her goals have been in the Big 12 season - when games are the toughest and everyone has scouted you. We are very happy for Jess and proud of her hard work she has put in to receive such a prestigious award."
Sharpe, one of the best attacking defenders in the country, has played in 15 games with 13 starts and missed four matches due to injury and has played every minute in 10 games. The West Des Moines, Iowa, product played two years at UCLA with back-to-back trips to the NCAA College Cup before transferring to Tech in the spring of 2010. She was also a member of the U20 National Team in 2009.
"Whitney Sharpe completely changed the way our team played when she stepped on the field with us for the first time last spring," Stone stated. "Her ability to play the role of a true attacking defender allowed us to really be able to flex our system in the manner it was meant to be played. She has also worked hard to become the best true defender she can be as well and her work ethic is second to none that we have had here at Texas Tech. Whit's leadership, confidence and just pure class on the ball made us so much better this year when she was out there and we are thrilled that she has been recognized by the Big 12 for her outstanding play.
"Whitney is a very unique American college player in that she has the skills of an attacking mid or forward but the tactical understand of playing in the back four. Her instincts as to when to get forward and how to set up her defender are excellent and her service is amongst the top defenders in the country. She still has some work to do, but Whit has a great shot to play at the next level is she decides that is something that she wants."
