RICHMOND, Ky. – After a successful business trip to the Bahamas, Eastern Kentucky women's basketball continues their preparation for the upcoming year as head coach Greg Todd announces the addition of six newcomers to the roster for the 2022-23 season.
 
EKU bolsters an already upper-classmen heavy roster with the addition of four NCAA Division I transfers in Danielle Rainey (Eastern Michigan), Antwainette Walker (Marquette), Kiana Williams (Morehead State), and Marissa Mackins (North Florida). The Colonels also welcome redshirt-underclassmen Abbey Morton and Jordyn Grandberry to the program.
 
"We are very excited about our signing class for the 2022-2023 season," said Todd. "We are looking forward to blending our talented new faces with our experienced returners."
 
Meet the Colonels
Danielle Rainey
Class: Graduate Student
Height: 5-10
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Previous School: Eastern Michigan
Coach Todd Quote: "Always exciting to get a player who started in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). With her length she is going to be able to get to the rack-zone in the ASUN. Danielle will be an awesome shooter and passer as well."
 
Rainey brings heavy experience at all levels of DI college basketball, having previous stops at Eastern Michigan, Florida, and Texas Christian before making her way to Richmond. During the 2021-22 season at EMU, Rainey saw action in 27 games, starting 17 and averaged nearly 25 minutes per contest, she led the Eagles in three-pointers (56), and shot .816 (31-of-38) from the charity stripe.
 
Prior to her season In Ypsilanti, Danielle spent three seasons with the University of Florida, and was a household name within their offense. Throughout her time as a Gator, Rainey appeared in 46 games with 14 starts, with a career average of 6.6 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game and was a two-time member of the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll. 
 
In 2020-21, Rainey appeared in 24 of Florida's 26 games, she tallied double-figure points in seven contests, led the Gators in three-pointers (37) and three-point percentage (.381). Notably, Rainey scored 13 points in a UF win over Auburn in the SEC Tournament and knocked down a career-high six three-pointers against Kentucky (2/15/21).
 
In the 2019-20 season, Rainey was sidelined for the entire year due to a knee injury. She was set to be the returning leading scorer in Gainesville.
 
2018-19 was Rainey's first official season for Florida, finishing the season averaging 8.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. She appeared in 22 games, earning nine starts, and made at least one three-point basket in 15 different games.
 
Rainey also spent a year and a half with Texas Christian University out of her prep career. The 2016-17 campaign was her freshman year, where she played in 11 games and averaged 1.7 points on the season. Rainey would then transfer to Florida after not seeing any action during the fall semester, ultimately sitting out due to previous NCAA Transfer Rules.
 
In her prep career, Rainey was named a four-star prospect by Prospect Nation, three-star by ESPN and was ranked as high as No. 22 in her position in the country. She led Vista Ridge (Texas) to a 34-5 record during her senior year and a semifinal appearance in the Texas Class 5A State Tournament.
 
Antwainette Walker
Class: R-Senior
Height: 5-11
Hometown: Lisle, Ill.
Previous School: Marquette
Coach Todd Quote: "Antwainette had a very productive season in the Big East last year, we are excited to see her blossom as a Colonel. Her work ethic and leadership serve our team well. She was our most productive player this summer on our overseas trip to the Bahamas."
 
Walker enters her fifth collegiate season when she steps on the floor for EKU this winter, spending her previous four seasons with Marquette and Arkansas-Little Rock. She appeared in 28 games during her junior season, averaging 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Walker scored in double-figures on four occasions as the team ended the year in the third round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
 
She helped Marquette go 24-8 during her sophomore campaign (2020-21), averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 points on the year. Walker scored five or more points in five contests against Providence, St. John's, Xavier, Providence (Big East Semifinals), and UCONN (Big East Championship).
 
Antwainette redshirted during the 2019-20 season at Marquette due to previous NCAA Transfer rules.
 
Prior to her time as a Golden Eagle, Walker began her collegiate career out of high school at Arkansas-Little Rock, where she appeared in all 21 games and scored a career-high 14 points against Mississippi State. 
 
Walker was a named a three-star recruit out of St. Francis High School (Ill.), where she averaged 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.4 assists per game during her senior season and was named the Catholic League White Division Player of the Year.
 
Marissa Mackins
Class: R-Junior
Height: 5-10
Hometown: Durham, N.C.
Previous School: North Florida
Coach Todd Quote: "Marissa is one of the smartest and most skilled players I have worked with in my career. Her shooting and passing abilities are off the charts, we can't wait to see her on the floor for EKU this season."
 
Mackins arrives to Richmond after previous stops at North Florida and Temple. 
 
As a junior at North Florida (2020-21), she started in 21-of-24 games and ranked second on the team in points per game (14.4). Mackins ranked 17th in the NCAA in three-pointers made (71) and 24th in three-point percentage (.423). Had a career night against Liberty, where she scored 33 points going 8-for-13 from beyond the arch and set the UNF record in those respected categories. Notched a career-high eight assists against FIU and Auburn in the regular season. Mackins was voted the Unanimous Preseason All-ASUN, earned a spot on the 2021 ASUN-All Conference First Team, and was the ASUN Newcomer of the Week on March 8, 2021.
 
At Temple during the 2019-20 season, Marissa started in 24 of the team's 30 games and scored 15 or more points in 16 games. She etched over 20 points in six of those contests and had a season-high mark of 28 against La Salle. 
 
In her freshman season (2018-19), Mackins appeared in 29 contests and started 19. She led the Owls and finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with 57 three-pointers. Marissa averaged 8.7 points per game, scored 23 points against Memphis and 11 points against No. 5 UCONN. She pulled down a season-best 10 rebounds against East Carolina, hit five three-pointers against Penn, eight points and two steals against No. 25 South Carolina, and hit 15 points at Ole Miss.
 
Mackins attended Southern Durham High School (N.C.) where she averaged 18.3 points and 4.8 assists per game. She earned Big 8 Co-Player of the Year Honors during the 2016-17 season.
 
Kiana Williams
Class: R-Junior
Height: 5-6
Hometown: Columbia, Md.
Previous School: Morehead State
Coach Todd Quote: "We are looking forward to Kiana's return from an injury. She will consistently be a pass first player, with the ability to hit the ball from deep. She's been a part of a program that was in the NCAA Tournament at Bethune-Cookman."
 
Williams is a dynamic player out of Columbia, Md. and spent the past three seasons Bethune-Cookman, Johnson C. Smith, and Morehead State.
 
Williams spent the last season recovering from a knee-injury at Morehead State, where head coach Todd originally recruited her.
 
She then transferred to Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, the 2020-21 season was ultimately cancelled due to Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association policies involving the COVID pandemic.
 
During the 2019-20 season, Williams played in 28 games and earned a start in 14 of those contests, averaging 17.6 minutes on the year. She led the team in free-throw percentage .738 (31-for-42) and assists per game (3.2), sixth on the team in rebounds per game (3.5) and ranked seventh on the team with 4.7 points per game.
 
In her freshman season, she appeared in 12 games, started nine, averaged 12.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg. Williams recorded double-figure scoring in eight contests, including double-doubles against Florida (14 points, 11 rebounds) and North Florida (23 points, 10 rebounds). She scored double figures in three notable games, including 14 points in eight rebounds in her first collegiate start against FIU, 19 points against Georgia State, and 16 points against nationally ranked South Florida.
 
Williams joined BCU out of Long Reach High School (Md.) and played a key role in helping the team advance to the Maryland 3A state finals. She reached 1,000 career points during her senior year while leading the country in assists per game. Williams established herself as one of the top prep players in Maryland averaging 16.3 points per game that year.
 
Abbey Morton
Class: R-Sophomore
Height: 6-1
Hometown: Wagga Wagga, NSW Australia 
Previous Team: Canberra Nationals (NBL)
Coach Todd Quote: "Abbey is a versatile post-player that has some good experience playing in a strong league (NBL) in Australia."
 
Morton joins the Colonels out of Australia, where she has competed on the national stage for much of her youth career. Morton was a member of the Wagga Blaze for their Waratah League championships in 2018 and 2019. 
 
She then furthered her career, moving up to the Australian State League, competing for Canberra Nationals during the 2022 season. Morton played in 16 games, averaging 22.2 minutes per contest. She averaged 2.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in her lone season in the NBL.
 
Jordyn Grandberry
Class: R-Freshman
Height: 6-2
Hometown: Woodbridge, Va.
Previous School: Bishop Ireton HS
Coach Todd Quote: "Excited to have Jordyn join our program. We are looking forward to watching her develop in the maroon and white."
 
Grandberry joins the 2022-23 roster out of Alexandria, Va., where she was a McDonald's All-American nominee in 2021 and received numerous Virginia High School All-State awards.
 
At Bishop Ireton, Grandberry was coached by Keshia Walton where she averaged 12 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game during her senior season. According to MaxPreps, Jordyn was listed as the No. 6 player in Virginia for the 2021 recruiting class.