WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State head coach
Keitha Adams announced the signing of five student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent Thursday afternoon.
Adams dipped into the transfer portal to land Curtessia Dean and Aniya Bell, who played at Seton Hall and Fairleigh Dickinson, respectively. LaLa Niankan and Raissa Nsabua are junior college transfers from Odessa College and Mineral Area College. Daniela Abies is a native of Spain and will be a freshman in 2022-23.
Daniela Abies | Forward | 6'0" | Málaga, Spain | Salesianos San Bartolomé
Daniela Abies averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds during her career for Salesianos San Bartolomé. She helped lead her team to a third-place finish at the Spain National Championship. Abies played for Jesus Lazaro on the Senior Team and Manuel Trujillo on the Junior Team. She is the daughter of Greg and Carmen, and has two brothers: Roy and Eric, and one sister, Martina She is undecided on a major at Wichita State.
Coach Adams on Abies:
"Daniela is a post player that brings an aggressive style of play. She has a rebounding mentality, can score inside, run the floor and gives us depth in the post."
Aniya Bell | Guard | 5'9" | Washington, D.C. | Fairleigh Dickinson
Aniya Bell appeared in 27 games, making 19 starts for Fairleigh Dickinson in 2021-22. She averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds, while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range. Bell scored a career-high 27 points on Dec. 17, 2021 vs. Western Kentucky. She posted 15 games in double figures, including four games with 20 or more. She had a season-best six-game streak of games with 10 or more points. Bell grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds vs. Saint Francis Brooklyn. As a freshman she appeared in 29 games and averaged 14.1 minutes per game. Bell averaged 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per contest. She netted a career-high 16 points against Merrimack (2/10). She was named NEC Rookie of the Week (2/5) during the season. Bell was also named to the NEC Winter Academic Honor Roll (Min 3.20 GPA). She is the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Bell, and has has one brother, Amari and one sister, Ayana. Her father played college basketball at Morgan State. Bell intends to major in criminal justice at Wichita State.
Coach Adams on Bell:
"Aniya Bell is a scoring guard who can really shoot the basketball. She put up great numbers in high school and shot a very high 41 percent from the perimeter. She brings great passion to the floor that it is fun to watch. We're excited to have her on our team."
Curtessia Dean | Guard | 5'10" | Monroe, La. | Seton Hall
Curtessia Dean played in 30 games, all off the bench in 2021-22 for Seton Hall, where she averaged 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game. She had 11 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes vs. Butler on Feb. 22. She scored 11 points with three rebounds at Butler on Feb. 6 after erupting for a season-high 14 points to go with four rebounds vs. Xavier on Feb. 4. Dean had nine points and six rebounds in 25 minutes vs. DePaul on Jan. 30. She pulled down a season-high nine rebounds to go with 13 points, three assists and a steal at Creighton on Jan. 14. She tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals at Villanova on Dec. 31. Dean sat out the season while recovering from injury in 2020-21, but was named to the All-Academic BIG EAST Team. Prior to Seton Hall, Dean spent two seasons at Trinity Valley Community College, where she was a two-time WBCA First Team All-American, NJCAA All-American and First Team All-Region selection. In 2019-20, she started all 33 games and helped lead Trinity Valley to a 32-1 overall record and a perfect 18-0 mark in conference play. She guided Trinity to the conference title, the regional tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to COVID-19. She led the team with 19.3 points per game and shot .455 from the floor to go with 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game. She is the daughter of La'Curtis Dunn and Natashia Dean, and has two brothers: La'Curtis Dunn Jr. and Curterrious Dunn; and three sisters: Mahaganie Williams, Kennadi Dunn and stepsister Emmarie Hamilton. She plans to major in criminal justice at Wichita State.
Coach Adams on Dean:
"Curtessia Dean is a scoring guard that brings veteran experience to our team. She can really score, is a great passer and knows how to read the game. We look for her to bring a scoring and winning mentality to Wichita State."
LaLa Niankan | 6'1" | Forward | Montreal, Quebec | Odessa College
LaLa Niankan comes to Wichita State after a season at Odessa College. She was named to the WJCAC All-Conference First Team after playing in 25 games, making 23 starts. Niankan averaged 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures in all but four games for Odessa, posting six games of 20 or more points, and two games with 30+. She scored a season-high 35 points vs. New Mexico Junior College on Dec. 1, while going 12-for-13 at the free throw line. Niankan registered six double-doubles this past season, and pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds on Nov. 19 vs. Trinity Valley Community College. She is the daughter of Koffi George Niankan and Ablaha Eugenie Kra, and has two sisters: Grace and Ange Niankan and one brother, Franck Niankan. She plans to major in biology at Wichita State.
Coach Adams on Niankan:
"LaLa is a great athletic forward that can score both inside and out. She had several high scoring games at Odessa Community College. She can run the floor, rebound, defend and bring offense to our team."
Raissa Nsabua | 5'10" | Guard | Ottawa, Ontario | Mineral Area College
Raissa Nsabua is the second Canda native to join the Shockers in 2022-23. Nsabua will make the transition to Wichita State from Mineral Area College where she was a First Team NJCAA All-Region DI selection. She played in 30 games, making 25 starts, averaging 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Nsabua tallied 14 games with 10 or more points. She scored a season-high 22 points on Nov. 13 vs. Arkansas State Mid-South. She posted three games with double-digit rebounds and three games with 10 or more assists. Nsabua had back-to-back double-doubles vs. Arkansas State Mid-South and State Fair Community College. Her three straight games in double figures in early February marked a season best. She is the daughter of Joel Nsabua and Charlotte Nzoigba, and has four brothers: Kevin, Tony, Joel Jr. and David, and one sister, Stephie. She plans to major in computer engineering at Wichita State.
Coach Adams on Nsabua:
"Raissa is an upsize point guard who has a great feel for the game. She can get to the basket in transition very quickly. She's a true point that likes to distribute the basketball to her teammates. She proved great leadership for her team at Mineral Area College."
