University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Basketball Adds to 2023 Signing Class
4/13/2023 2:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Lady Eagle head coach, Joye Lee-McNelis, announced today the addition of Atria "Tree" Dumas to the Lady Eagles' roster for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Dumas, a freshman at Tyler Junior College (Tyler, Texas), inked her letter of intent Wednesday morning to bring the Lady Eagles' incoming class to three.
"We are excited to welcome Tree to our Lady Eagle family," said McNelis. "She is a total student-athlete, graduating in the top three percent of her class in high school while being selected to All-Region and Texas All-Star teams. She brings an experience of winning to Southern Miss and her relentless rebounding is expected to impact us immediately. She was blessed and talented enough to play for the legendary Coach Trenia Tillis-Hoard (Jones) at Tyler and will bring us some much-needed depth at our center position and we have high hope for her one and off the court. She is of high character and is an extremely grateful young women and we are excited and anxious to see her grow with Lady Eagle basketball this year."
"Tree will bring a physical presence inside on both ends of the floor," said fifth-year Lady Eagle assistant head coach, Jack Trosper. "She plays with a high motor that is going to be contagious to the rest of our team and the community. She's a high-IQ player and student that we feel will integrate smoothly into the great core of returners we have back. Her maturity, along with her heart and grit, are exactly the kinds of qualities we're looking for at Southern Miss and is why she will be a great fit next season. She also comes from a tremendous pedigree of coaches at the high school and junior college levels and that knowledge will carry her into great success here at Southern Miss."
Dumas arrives in the Hub City after working the 2022-23 season in the paint for the Tyler Apache in Tyler, Texas. Over 31 games, Dumas made 26 starts in the Apache front court, averaging 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
In a stacked Apache starting lineup in which all five starters and the sixth woman average double-figure scoring totals, Dumas slotted in as the fifth-best offensive weapon for TJC. She connected on 130-of-247 field goal attempts for a 52.6 percent clip and enjoyed a strong showing at the charity stripe, going 84-of-118 (71.2 percent).
Her 262 rebounds, 99 offensive and 163 defensive, were second most on the squad and her 19 blocks were third. She finished with double-figure scoring in 20 games, passing the 20 point mark twice and setting a career high with 23 point against Angelina College (Jan. 21).
She also notched 15 games with double-digit boards, going for a career-best 15 against Blinn College (March 3). Four blocks against Ranger College (Nov. 28) also set a career-high.
Dumas arrived in Tyler after lettering at North Shore High School (Houston, Texas) for Allison Campbell. She also spent time in the prep circuit, playing for Arian Shackleford's Texas Phenoms travel team.
The Lady Eagles' 2023 class now totals three as Dumas joins Elle Blatchford (Canton, Ga. // Sequoyah HS) and Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla. // Plant HS) as the current signees.
"We are excited to welcome Tree to our Lady Eagle family," said McNelis. "She is a total student-athlete, graduating in the top three percent of her class in high school while being selected to All-Region and Texas All-Star teams. She brings an experience of winning to Southern Miss and her relentless rebounding is expected to impact us immediately. She was blessed and talented enough to play for the legendary Coach Trenia Tillis-Hoard (Jones) at Tyler and will bring us some much-needed depth at our center position and we have high hope for her one and off the court. She is of high character and is an extremely grateful young women and we are excited and anxious to see her grow with Lady Eagle basketball this year."
"Tree will bring a physical presence inside on both ends of the floor," said fifth-year Lady Eagle assistant head coach, Jack Trosper. "She plays with a high motor that is going to be contagious to the rest of our team and the community. She's a high-IQ player and student that we feel will integrate smoothly into the great core of returners we have back. Her maturity, along with her heart and grit, are exactly the kinds of qualities we're looking for at Southern Miss and is why she will be a great fit next season. She also comes from a tremendous pedigree of coaches at the high school and junior college levels and that knowledge will carry her into great success here at Southern Miss."
Dumas arrives in the Hub City after working the 2022-23 season in the paint for the Tyler Apache in Tyler, Texas. Over 31 games, Dumas made 26 starts in the Apache front court, averaging 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
In a stacked Apache starting lineup in which all five starters and the sixth woman average double-figure scoring totals, Dumas slotted in as the fifth-best offensive weapon for TJC. She connected on 130-of-247 field goal attempts for a 52.6 percent clip and enjoyed a strong showing at the charity stripe, going 84-of-118 (71.2 percent).
Her 262 rebounds, 99 offensive and 163 defensive, were second most on the squad and her 19 blocks were third. She finished with double-figure scoring in 20 games, passing the 20 point mark twice and setting a career high with 23 point against Angelina College (Jan. 21).
She also notched 15 games with double-digit boards, going for a career-best 15 against Blinn College (March 3). Four blocks against Ranger College (Nov. 28) also set a career-high.
Dumas arrived in Tyler after lettering at North Shore High School (Houston, Texas) for Allison Campbell. She also spent time in the prep circuit, playing for Arian Shackleford's Texas Phenoms travel team.
The Lady Eagles' 2023 class now totals three as Dumas joins Elle Blatchford (Canton, Ga. // Sequoyah HS) and Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla. // Plant HS) as the current signees.
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