ANNETTE BABERS

A 6-foot-3 standout on Saginaw High’s varsity basketball team, Babers averaged 12.3 points and 16 rebounds during her sophomore season in 1985. As a junior Babers averaged 20.1 points and 19 rebounds while leading the Trojans to the Class A state championship. She attained second team Parade All-America honors that same year – the first female in Saginaw County history to do so – as Saginaw High finished with a 28-0 record with Babers setting a state tourney record with 14 blocks per game. As a senior the Trojans were runner-up in Class A as Babers averaged 24.8 points, 21 rebounds and 15 blocks per game. She garnered All-Saginaw Valley League and All-State honors and she was a USA Today and Parade Magazine All-American in 1988 and was named the co-Player of the Year by Parade. She scored 1,581 career points at Saginaw High and the Trojans were an impressive 73-6 during her three years on the varsity. She signed a letter-of-intent to Howard University (Washington D.C.) but soon left for Anderson Junior College (Anderson, S.C.), before transferring to Michigan State University. She was forced to sit out the 1989-90 season because of transfer rules, and then Babers suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of her sophomore season. During the next season she played 10 games and averaged 8.4 points-per-game for the Spartans. Babers started 25 of 26 games her senior season and was fourth on the team with an 8.3 scoring average, while leading the squad with 7.4 rebounds per game. She also led the Spartans with a single-season record of 36 blocked shots. Babers recorded five double-doubles during the season, including a 12-point, 19-rebound performance against Northern Illinois. She played in the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1990 and later played professionally in Turkey.