Each weekday, ESPN RISE brings you five vital stats from athletes across the country.
Erica Wheeler is a magician with a basketball. The Parkway Academy Charter (Miramar, Fla.) senior is the No. 5 rated point guard in the ESPNU HoopGurlz 100 and the No. 39 overall recruit. She will take her game to Rutgers next year to play for coach C. Vivian Stringer, and she gives five reasons she chose the Scarlet Knights.
1. Great coach
"There's nothing like a black woman coaching you. She understands what's going on with you and what we go through being females. She's more like someone who I can relate to as mother."
2. High level of play
"They play at such a high level. I can bring it to that level of basketball, and when I come Rutgers, I can do the same."
3. Great school
"I didn't look into it until I committed, but I was blown away about how good the school was. When I went on a visit, the school just seemed great and everyone was really down to earth"
4. Style of play
"In high school, they look to me to do more scoring. I look at Rutgers and it's not a one-man show. Everyone scores. They get their points off fast breaks and that's what I like to do. That's my style. Get the ball to the goal."
5. Felt like home
"They treated me like family. It was really important because I didn't expect the feeling. All the other visits I went on, that feeling just wasn't there. Here, I felt like I was already on the team."
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