SLIPPERY ROCK — At first, Jence Rhoads kind of enjoyed all the attention she was getting.

As one of the hot high school girls basketball properties on the college recruiting market, she received up to 10 phone calls a night from universities clamoring for her services.

She received just as many letters crammed into the mail box of her family's Slippery Rock home.

They wooed Rhoads, who will be a senior point guard for Slippery Rock HighSchool this winter.

They flattered her. They told her how good she would look in their school colors.

But it didn't take long for Rhoads to grow to dread the ringing of the phone.

"It was cool and they had nice things to say," Rhoads said of the recruiting calls. "But then they started calling and putting pressure on me and it was like, 'Wow, I don't know if I like this anymore.'"

So, Rhoads sought to put an early stop to it by verbally committing to play at Vanderbilt University. The official signing date is Nov. 8.

Vanderbilt, a Division Ischool in the rough Southeastern Conference that features perennial women's basketball powers Tennessee and LSU, went 21-11 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, falling to North Carolina.

Rhoads, who also consideredWake Forest and Purdue, chose Vanderbilt for many reasons.

"I liked the coaching staff," Rhoads said. "I liked the campus when I went to visit. I like the Nashville (Tenn.) area and I liked the program."

As a junior last season at Slippery Rock, Rhoads averaged 21.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game and was named Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The 6-foot guard has scored 1,493 points in her career and has a legitimate shot at 2,000.

She will be asked to be more of a passer and less of a scorer at Vanderbilt.

And that's just fine with her.

The Commodores like their guards to distribute the ball to the post players. Last year's starting point guard, Dee Davis, averaged 6.6 assists and 7.8 points per game.

Davis will be a senior this winter and Rhoads should be a candidate to take over the position as a freshman.

"They can't give me any guarantees on playing time," Rhoads said. "I hope I'll be able to play. I'm going to work hard."

Rhoads got a little help in making the decision to commit early from Julie Molloy, one of her teammates on the Rock Solid AAU basketball team.

Molloy, who was a senior at Grove City HighSchool last season, ended her own recruiting circus by committing to St. Bonaventure before her final high school season.

She told Rhoads about how much of a relief it was to get her college decision out of the way.

"Julie told me how she felt about making her decision early," Rhoads said. "She told me no matter what I did, I would make the right decision."

Rhoads, who has also excelled as a soccer player and broke the Slippery Rock record for goals scored in a career against Maplewood Tuesday night, can now enjoy the rest of her senior season.

No ringing phones. No bulging mailboxes. Just basketball and the promise of four more years of it in college.

"I won't have to worry about it," Rhoads said. "It was so nice to just decide. I don't have to talk to anyone anymore. I can just go out, enjoy my senior season, have fun, hopefully do well, and go from there."