Almost three years removed from her last college basketball game, former Lord Botetourt star Nicci Moats is returning to the floor.

Moats, a 6-foot-2 frontcourt player, has enrolled at Roanoke College with plans to play basketball for the Maroons, her father, Dale, said.

Moats began her college career at the University of Tennessee and played in nine games for the Lady Volunteers during their 2006-2007 national championship season.

She took a leave of absence from the Tennessee women's team in January 2007 and coach Pat Summitt announced two months later that Moats was leaving the team.

Moats subsequently transferred to James Madison University but was redshirted in 2007-2008 and did not return to school last year.

It has been more than four years since Moats last received significant playing time as a junior on the 2004-2005 Lord Botetourt team that reached the Group AA championship game before finishing 27-2.

Moats was chosen Region III player of the year and was a first-team All-Group AA selection as a junior.

Moats suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament at the start of her senior year, the 2005-2006 season, and underwent reconstructive surgery that caused her to miss the remainder of the season.

Moats scored 1,388 points and had 1,016 rebounds in her Lord Botetourt career.

Roanoke's understanding is that Moats will have three years of eligibility starting with the 2009-2010 season.

She is the first scholarship Division I player to transfer to Roanoke College for women's basketball since ex-Virginia Tech guard Katrina Williams in 2001.