Jackson's Rylee Stafford signs with Fontbonne University

Jackson senior Rylee Stafford signs a national letter of intent to play basketball and soccer at Fontbonne University in suburban St. Louis (Submitted).

Jackson senior Rylee Stafford signed a national letter of intent to play soccer and basketball at Fontbonne University on April 27th.

Stafford is a starting defender for the Indians' soccer team and a Semoball Awards finalist this past season in basketball. The 5-foot-5 guard averaged 13.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals per game. She shot 40 percent from the field, including 43 percent on 3-pointers as Jackson advanced to the Class 5 state quarterfinals for the first time since 2007. She also won the SEMO Conference free-throw award with 85 percent shooting from the charity stripe. She made the all-district and SEMO Conference teams and was also named to the All-Missourian team.

Last year, Stafford was a first-team all-district selection in soccer as the Indians lost in the Class 5 District 1 championship game to Northwest (Cedar Hill). This season, Jackson stands at 13-4 with two more games left in the regular season.

Fontbonne University is located in suburban St. Louis. Its athletic programs compete in Division III. In basketball, the Griffins went 13-13 this past season and lost in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament semifinals. In soccer, Fontbonne was 12-7-2 and lost in the SLIAC tournament final.