AUBURN, Ala. – Two new student-athletes have joined the Auburn women’s basketball team for the spring semester as freshmen Yuting Deng and Julia Geis will suit up for the Tigers for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Deng is a 6-0 guard from Hunan Province, China, who signed with the Tigers in November. She competed for China’s U24 national team in FIBA 3x3 competition and was ranked as the 27th-best player in China. She led her country’s team to a win at the FIBA 3x3 Series Debrecen, scoring 11 points with five rebounds in the championship game.
She also competed for China’s U18 national team in the FIBA Asia Cup. After several visits in the fall, she chose Auburn over Indiana, Washington, BYU and San Francisco.
Geis, a 5-10 guard from Roswell, Georgia, joined the program as a walk-on in late December and has dressed for the last three games. A freshman with a semester already in the books at Auburn, Geis was a four-year letterwinner in three sports at Blessed Trinity High School. She was the team’s player of the year as a senior and an all-region selection.
In flag football, Geis helped her team to the state playoffs in 2022 and 2024 and was on the USA Today watch list for high school flag football player of the year. She set program records for passing yards, passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns. In addition, she was the fourth-place finisher in the state golf tournament as a senior.
The two new Tigers will be on the bench as Auburn hosts No. 7 Texas Thursday night at Neville Arena. Game time is 6 p.m. CT, and tickets are available in advance at AUBTix.com.