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Reese Polega, Taeya Steinauer, Madelyn Geers
Mastodon WBB Announces Signing Class
11/14/2023 10:31:00 AM | Women's Basketball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Purdue Fort Wayne women's basketball head coach Maria Marchesano announced her program's three-member signing class for 2024 on Tuesday (Nov. 14): Madelyn Geers, Taeya Steinauer and Reese Polega.
Geers is a 5-foot-9 guard that averaged a double-double in her junior year at Kent City Community. She was awarded All-Region Team and All-State Team during her junior and sophomore seasons, along with First Team All-Conference all three seasons. Geers played in two state finals in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She was also awarded Academic All-State. Geers played for the West Michigan Driver Premier club team and finished in the Elite 8 of the Select 40 Finals.
"Maddie was our first commitment of the '24 class and we were super excited to add her to the family," Marchesano said. "She brings a versatile, tough-nosed game to Fort Wayne and she is deceptively athletic. She has the potential to be strong on both sides of the ball in her career here and that was a huge reason we were so high on her."
Steinauer is a 5-foot-11 wing from Lincoln Prep in Hamilton, Ontario. She was awarded 2022 and 2023 Biosteel All-Canadian honors. Steinauer played for the Kia Nurse Elite club team and won the Boo Williams 2023 Tournament. Her mother and both sisters played college basketball.
"Adding Taeya to our squad just made so much sense for us. She brings length and a whole lot of intangibles to the table," Marchesano said. "She has grown up in a very sports-focused family and she understands all the little things it takes to win. She will be able to play multiple positions for us and fits very well into our culture."
Polega is a 6-foot-1 wing that is a three-time conference and district champion, a two-time regional champion and a state runner-up. In her three seasons at West Catholic, she led her squad to a 62-4 record. She shoots 45.5 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from 3-point range and 77.8 percent from the line with a 1.67 assist to turnover ratio. Polega was selected as an All-Conference honorable mention in 2021-22 and made the team in 2022-23. She played club hoops for FBC (2018-19) and West Michigan Drive (2019-23). She also led her team to the Elite 8 of the Select 40.
"Every time we watched Reese play over the past two years, we fell more and more in love with her competitive spirit and her ability to make highlight reel plays that can really swing the momentum of a game," Marchesano said. "Reese is long and versatile on the offensive end, but her ability to affect shots around the rim on the defensive end is very impressive, especially for a wing."
Geers, Steinauer and Polega will join the Mastodons in the summer of 2024.
Geers is a 5-foot-9 guard that averaged a double-double in her junior year at Kent City Community. She was awarded All-Region Team and All-State Team during her junior and sophomore seasons, along with First Team All-Conference all three seasons. Geers played in two state finals in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She was also awarded Academic All-State. Geers played for the West Michigan Driver Premier club team and finished in the Elite 8 of the Select 40 Finals.
"Maddie was our first commitment of the '24 class and we were super excited to add her to the family," Marchesano said. "She brings a versatile, tough-nosed game to Fort Wayne and she is deceptively athletic. She has the potential to be strong on both sides of the ball in her career here and that was a huge reason we were so high on her."
Steinauer is a 5-foot-11 wing from Lincoln Prep in Hamilton, Ontario. She was awarded 2022 and 2023 Biosteel All-Canadian honors. Steinauer played for the Kia Nurse Elite club team and won the Boo Williams 2023 Tournament. Her mother and both sisters played college basketball.
"Adding Taeya to our squad just made so much sense for us. She brings length and a whole lot of intangibles to the table," Marchesano said. "She has grown up in a very sports-focused family and she understands all the little things it takes to win. She will be able to play multiple positions for us and fits very well into our culture."
Polega is a 6-foot-1 wing that is a three-time conference and district champion, a two-time regional champion and a state runner-up. In her three seasons at West Catholic, she led her squad to a 62-4 record. She shoots 45.5 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from 3-point range and 77.8 percent from the line with a 1.67 assist to turnover ratio. Polega was selected as an All-Conference honorable mention in 2021-22 and made the team in 2022-23. She played club hoops for FBC (2018-19) and West Michigan Drive (2019-23). She also led her team to the Elite 8 of the Select 40.
"Every time we watched Reese play over the past two years, we fell more and more in love with her competitive spirit and her ability to make highlight reel plays that can really swing the momentum of a game," Marchesano said. "Reese is long and versatile on the offensive end, but her ability to affect shots around the rim on the defensive end is very impressive, especially for a wing."
Geers, Steinauer and Polega will join the Mastodons in the summer of 2024.
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