Women's Hoops announces Winkler as first signing in 2017 class

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University women's basketball team, under head coach Dave Denly, announced today the signing of 5-4 guard Jamie Winkler (Louisville, Neb./Louisville HS) to a letter of intent to continue her academic and athletic careers at Bellevue beginning in the fall of 2017.

The daughter of John and Tina, Winkler was coached by Wally Johnson at Louisville High School where she was a four-year letter-winner and three-year team captain. This past season she led her team to a 20-3 overall record and an appearance in the Nebraska Class C1 State Tournament. She leaves the program as Louisville's all-time leading scorer with 1,037 career points. Winkler intends to major in business at Bellevue.

Winkler averaged 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game during her senior season and finished with career totals of 1,037 points, 447 assists, 359 rebounds, 319 steals, and 104 made three-pointers. In addition to her place atop the all-time scoring list, she also holds school records for; points by a freshman, assists in a career, assists in a season, assists in a game, and steals in a career.

Coach Denly on Jamie Winkler:

"We are very excited to add Jamie to our basketball family following a standout career at Louisville High School. She has a very good skill set at the point guard position and we are excited to watch her develop over the next four years. She is an excellent student and will add to the culture that we are building here at Bellevue University."

In addition to playing basketball at Louisville High, Winkler was also accomplished on the volleyball court and running track. She was a four-year letter-winner and two-year captain in volleyball, twice earning third team all-conference honors and twice being an Academic All-State selection. She holds program records for digs in a match, season, and career. Her 74 digs in a match in 2015 is an All-Class State Record for most in a match. In track, she was a two-year letter-winner and a member of the school-record 400-meter relay team.

During her high school career Winkler garnered numerous academic and athletic honors, including:

• 2-time first team all-conference
• 2-time second team all-conference
• 2-time second team all-area
• Second Team All-Nebraska
• 3-time Honorable Mention All-Nebraska
• 4-time Academic All-Nebraska
• 4-year Gold Honor Roll
• 3-year member of National Society of High School Scholars
• 3-year member of National Honor Society
• Class of 2017 Salutatorian
• Distinguished Scholar Award
• President's Education Awards Program of Outstanding Academic Excellence
• East-Central Nebraska Conference Academic/Activity All-Conference Team
• NSAA and US Bank Believers and Achievers Award
• Omaha World-Herald 2017 All-Academic Program Honorable Mention
• Annual Award Outstanding Senior Student

The Bruins posted a 16-15 overall record as they completed their inaugural season in 2016-17. The team went 9-7 in NSAA play during the regular-season to earn a home game in the NSAA Tournament Quarterfinals. The team returns 11 letter-winners as they look to build on the foundation set in their debut campaign last season.