Wells figures to get her shots in college

Nicole Wells wanted to play college basketball. She also wanted to go to a school that would allow her the freedom to do what she does best -- shoot the basketball.

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She got both wishes when she signed last week to play at Georgia Perimeter College, where Wells said coaches plan to mold her into more of a guard role.

Because of her 6-foot height, the Harlem High School senior was asked to play multiple roles with the Bulldogs, including mixing it up down low. Wells played the post at times, and competed with younger sister Ebony to see who could pull the most rebounds.

In her free time, Wells was practicing her shooting. She worked on her shooting between her junior and senior years and with the arrival of point guard Chancellar Martin, Wells was able to roam outside and look for her shot.

"I came back and I was hitting threes," Wells said. "It just opened up a new aspect of my game."

Wells said she had interest from other schools, some of which wanted to use her in the post. Georgia Perimeter coaches watched her play at a showcase event in Augusta and called later to tell her they thought she would be a good fit at small forward, or as a "3 guard." Wells visited the school one weekend and made her decision by the following Monday.

She said Perimeter coaches wanted to work to make her more of a threat on the wing and to increase her speed and ball-handling skills. Wells said her experience playing post at times for Harlem should help.

"Either way, I'm probably going to be bigger than most guards and used to the physical play of it," she said. "I know where post wants the ball."

Wells' plan is to reunite with her sister after her two years at Perimeter. Ebony, a Harlem sophomore last season who will move to Grovetown High School as a junior, already is receiving interest from several Division I schools, including the University of Georgia. If that doesn't fly, Nicole wants to play for a school close enough to watch her sister play.

"She's going to get picked up by somebody," Harlem coach Amy Slagle said. "She's a hard worker."

Slagle said Nicole should benefit from the increased exposure of playing at Perimeter, citing an injury that limited Nicole's opportunity to play for a travel team. Nicole said she wanted to step on the court at Perimeter and immediately fill a role.

"I don't just want to be another player on the court," Nicole said. "I want to be able to contribute something to the team and better myself so that when I do move on to a D-I school after the two years, I'm something worth offering a full ride to."