Dillard University athletics have much to crow about with the announcement of a recent graduate and star player's next move.

Ariel Mitchell, a native of Louisiana and a Dillard alum from the Class of 2012, has signed with the legendary Harlem Globetrotters. She is one of only 11 women to ever to play for the basketball team, and the first to come out of a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school. The Dillard University Athletics Department will honor her at a formal announcement and press conference on Friday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. in the Dent Hall gymnasium on Dillard’s campus.

Mitchell will be available to answer questions from media at the press conference. Elected officials, Dillard University Athletic Director Kiki Baker Barnes, representatives from Mitchell’s hometown, and family of the late Billy Ray Hobley (a Dillard alum and longtime Globetrotter) are also expected to speak.

Ariel “Mighty” Mitchell, as she will be known with the Globetrotters, hails from St James, La. The 5’7” shooting guard led the Dillard Lady Bleu Devils basketball team for four years, scoring over 1,000 points and earning All-Conference honors in her sophomore, junior, and senior years. She averaged 13.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in public health.

In 2013, the Globetrotters will launch its “You Write the Rules” World Tour, playing over 250 games across the U.S., Canada, France, the Dominican Republic, the United Arab Emirates, and more.

Dillard students, staff, faculty and alumni are invited to attend this special celebration on Friday and show their support for Ariel. For more information about Ariel or the event, please contact Kiki Baker-Barnes at (504) 816-4752.