IOWA CITY – Jinaya Houston has inked a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at the University of Iowa, UI head coach Lisa Bluder announced Wednesday.
Houston, a 6-1 guard from Davenport, Iowa, attends Davenport North High School where she is coached by Rob O’Brien. Houston is a three-time all-state, all-metro, and all-conference honoree and a two-time all-district selection.
“We are thrilled to have Jinaya join our team next year,” said Bluder. “She is an incredible basketball player that plays either forward position. Jinaya can handle the ball, shoot the 3, and play good defense. She has grown up in the state as a Hawkeye fan and it is wonderful to see this dream become a reality.”
As a junior, Houston guided her high school team to a 20-3 overall record and its first state tournament appearance in school history. The second-year team captain averaged 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game her junior campaign.
The 2015-16 Mississippi Athletic Conference Player of the Year was named first team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association and second team all-state by the Iowa Coaches Association. She earned all-metro co-captain, all-district, Chicago Showcase Player of the Game, Des Moines Register Elite 8 accolades, and was a finalist for the Quad City Times Female Athlete of the Year.
As a sophomore, Houston averaged 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, two steals, and one block per game to help her team to a 17-5 overall record in its first year as a 5A institution. The first-year team captain collected first team all-conference and all-metro accolades following the season. She was also a second team all-state honoree (Iowa Newspaper Association) and a second team Sports Spotlight selection in the state of Iowa.
Houston was named third team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association, second team all-metro, and first team all-conference as a freshman. She averaged 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block per game her freshman campaign.
Houston comes from an athletic family. Her father, James, played football at William Penn and mother, Jacinda, played basketball for the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
