RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke announced Monday that former University of Colorado forward Amber Metoyer has decided to transfer to the Lady Techsters program.

The 5-foot-11-inch Metoyer -- who signed a scholarship agreement with the program this past weekend -- comes to Louisiana Tech after lettering for Ceal Barry and the Buffs the past two seasons after signing with Colorado out of Fairview High School in Boulder in 2002. Under the NCAA transfer rules, Metoyer will be forced to sit out the upcoming season but still retains two years of eligibility.

?The first thing that impresses you about Amber is her athleticism and strength,? Budke said. ?This is a young lady that will compete for (Louisiana Tech?s) track team during the year she sits out for us. She can play a couple of different positions; she is strong enough to play inside and smart enough to play outside.?

As a sophomore this past season, Metoyer helped lead Colorado to a 22-8 mark and the first round of the NCAA Tournament while averaging 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Metoyer made seven starts and saw action in all 30 games. While averaging 19 minutes a game, she shot 36 percent from the field and 64 percent from the free throw line and also recorded 51 assists, 35 steals and 10 blocked shots on the season.

Metoyer scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in a 78-64 win Dec. 9 against Pac-10 foe Washington while also scoring double digits three other times during the season.

?I?m really, really excited about Amber joining our program,? Budke said. ?She has experience in the Big 12 on big-time level. I?ve always liked transfers becuase they have been through the battles; they?ve already developed work ethic. With her being able to sit out one year but practice with us, it will be like a she is a returning player (come 2005-06).?

During her freshman campaign, the Boulder native averaged 4.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while hitting 41 percent of her shots. However, it was during her first year at Colorado that Metoyer showed her potential as a clutch player numerous times.

She hit two free throws with only 20 seconds remaining to give Colorado an 88-86 lead against USC on Dec. 21, 2002, and then sealed the victory with a steal on the defensive end of the floor. Metoyer?s heroics continued just over a week later when she hit a shot with 15 seconds remaining against Syracuse to send the game into overtime.

In her first ever Big 12 game against Iowa State on Jan. 8, 2003, the 20-year-old scored a then career-high 13 points, including her team?s final seven which featured the winning basket with 1.5 seconds remaining to beat the Cyclones 64-63.

?Traditionally, Louisiana Tech has had great teams that are always competing in the NCAA Tournament every year,? Metoyer said. ?It?s also a place where a lot of players are able to pursue their dreams of playing in the WNBA. Having the opportunity to play for one of the best programs in the history of women?s basketball and then possibly a chance to play on the next level was too much to pass up.?

The multi-sport star -- Metoyer also threw the shot and discus for the Colorado track team in the spring -- is physcially gifted and was considered the Buffs ?most fearless and athletic player,? according to her write up in the Colorado media guide. Metoyer?s father Mike was an outside linebacker at Colorado in 1973 and later for the Kansas City Chiefs and her mother Renee was a multi-events athlete at Fairview High School.

During her senior year at Fairview High School, Metoyer averaged a state-best 23.5 points and third-best 10.8 rebounds a game, earning first team all-county, Daily Camera Player of the Year, first team all-Centennial League and first team all-state honors. Metoyer was named to the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News first team all-state squads while finishing as the runner-up for Miss 5A Basketball.

She also earned All-American status in track as a prep and won the state championship in the shot put as a freshman at Fairview. Metoyer holds the Fairview records in the shot put, discus, pentathlon and heptathlon. She attended the U.S. Olympic Camp for heptathletes, taking sixth at the 2002 U.S. Juniors National Heptathlon with 4,673 points.

Metoyer said she thinks sitting out this year will be a benefit to her in the long run. ?It will most definitely be a benefit,? Metoyer said. ?It will not only give me the opportunity to learn Louisiana Tech?s system, but it will also allow me to work on my game and get better.?

Metoyer, who was originally recruited by Kansas State, Colorado State, Arizona State and Colorado, chose to transfer to Louisiana Tech after visits to Arkansas and Arizona State.