Gator Country

Florida head coach Amanda Butler snagged her third recruit of the 2012 class on Tuesday with Andrea Vilaro Aragones from Spain. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

University of Florida women’s head basketball coach Amanda Butler announced Tuesday that Andrea Vilaro Aragones of Barcelona, Spain, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Gators and will enroll at the school for the 2011 fall semester.

Vilaro Aragones is a 5-foot-10 guard/forward with an abundance of international playing experience, competing in the U16 and U18 European Championships and the U17 FIBA World Championships. As a member of Spain’s U17 women’s national team, Vilaro Aragones led her squad during the 2010 FIBA U 17 World Championships with 10.9 points per game.

During the 2009 U16 European Championships held in Naples, Italy, Vilaro Aragones was the team captain of the gold-medal-winning Spanish squad and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. She also captained the 2010 U17 World Championships team that placed eighth while averaging 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists, shortly after helping Spain to the silver medal at the 2010 U18 European Championships in Slovakia.

“I’m really excited about Andrea becoming a Gator and joining our team,” Butler said. “She is very versatile, she has great size and she has great international experience at the highest level. Andrea can give us some minutes at the two-guard position, she can give us some minutes at the three and she can even give us some minutes at the four. She brings another dimension, having competed at the highest level.

“She can score and she has a really high basketball IQ,” Butler continued. “Andrea is a very, very hard worker and more than anything, she’s really excited to compete at the highest level and in the most talented conference in the country. She wants to be the best.”

Vilaro Aragones will be competing with Spain at the 2011 U18 European Championships scheduled for August 4-14 in Oradea, Romania. Spain, competing in Division A, drew Group B along with Slovenia, Poland and Lithuania.

“In addition to being a team player, I bring passion, hard work, responsibility, defense and depending on the day, three-point shooting,” Vilaro Aragones said of her game. “I want to learn more and play with the best players and in the best conference. I loved the passion of Amanda and (assistant coach) Murriel Page.”

The well-rounded player earned her diploma from Institute Joaquin Blume in May of 2011. For her final three years Vilaro Aragones represented her school on Segle XXI, which competed in the second division of the Women’s Spanish League, and helped the team during the 2010-11 season with a squad-leading 12.1 points per game (249 in 23 games), along with 3.7 rebounds (86 total), 41 assists and 33 steals.

Vilaro Aragones joins Viktorija Dimaite, a 6-foot-4 center from Lithuania and Carlie Needles, a 5-foot-7 guard from Highlands Ranch, Col., as members of the Gator’s 2010-11 signing class.

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