As Auburn women’s basketball enters the second half of this season, they welcome two new players to the team.
Julia Geis, a freshman who hails from Roswell Georgia, was a walk-on in late December and has dressed for the five most recent games but has yet to see the floor.
Geis was not only a four-year letterman for basketball at Blessed Trinity High School but also won letters in flag football and golf all four years of high school as well. The multi-gifted guard was an all-region selection and offensive player of the year for basketball in her senior season and helped lead the team to the state playoffs in 2022 and 2024.
Geis also boasted quite the flag football portfolio, landing on USA Today’s 2024 watch list for high school flag football player of the year. She led her team to the Georgia 7A Final Four in 2023 and set school records in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns.
To top it all off, Geis was also a talented golfer, finishing as runner-up in her region in 2024 and placing fourth at state. Head coach Johnnie Harris is optimistic about Julia’s future with the team and the effort she puts forth.
“Julia has been great. She fit in really well with this team. She's been working on the scout team.” said Harris. “So she fits in great. We love having her around. She's really good, and she's working really hard.”
The other new addition is Yuting Deng, a freshman guard from Hunan Province, China who signed back in November and arrived in Auburn in mid-January. The promising recruit was ranked as the 27th-best player in all of China. Deng has played on China’s U24 team for the FIBA 3x3 tournament and the U18 team in the FIBA Asia Cup.
Deng has dressed for and played in two games so far, and is adjusting to her role on the team nicely. In her first appearance in a loss against Texas last week, Deng played six minutes and went 0 for 2 from the field. However, Coach Harris wasn’t concerned and expressed faith in Deng’s talents.
“She's been here less than a week, and she's had two practices. I think there's been a lot, especially with the language barrier,” said Harris. “ But she's a kid with a high IQ. She probably has some nerves in there because she's been really good in practice, and she hit shots. So I think once she gets settled in a little bit, you'll see the true Yuting. But she's just coming into the country. She's learning a lot and has had a lot thrown at her in a couple of days. So we'll give her some grace and give her a little time, but she works extremely hard, and she'll bounce back.”
Harris was right to give Deng some time. In her next appearance in a win against Missouri, Deng scored 13 points and had two rebounds and a block in her 15 minutes on the floor.
The two new members of the team hold much promise for Auburn as they try to gain momentum in the coming weeks.
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Jackie is a freshman majoring in Drug and Biopharmaceutical Sciences. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @jackie_domingun
