T-Birds Ink Alaska Prep To Letter Of Intent

              CEDAR CITY, Utah, July 13 –  Southern Utah University has signed another men’s basketball player to a national letter of intent, Thunderbird Coach Roger Reid announced today. Damar Wilson, a 6-foot-4, 213-pound guard from Anchorage, Alaska’s East High School, will be joining the Thunderbirds for the 2007-08 season.

              Wilson earned first-team all-state honors and was named Cook Inlet Conference Player of the Year after averaging 26 points, five assists and eight rebounds per game this past season. As a junior Wilson – who played primarily in the post this past season but prefers guard, where he spent his first two seasons at East – averaged 18 points, five assists, two steals and two blocks per game.

              He also distinguished himself in track & field, claiming back-to-back Alaska state championships in the 100-meters and setting the Alaska state record in the 200-m, at 22.49.

              “Damar is really athletic, something we’re excited about,” Reid said. “He’s a quality young man who is athletically strong and academically very strong as well. He’s going to be a great asset to our program.

              “We’re trying to recruit players who are good citizens, people who our fans and administration will be proud to have as representatives and he’s certainly that kind of person,” Coach Reid went on to say. “We’re also working on building a little continuity with a freshman class, which is important to building a program. We will always recruit the junior colleges too, you need to do that, but having players who are with us for four years builds a base of solid players who understand what we’re trying to do.”

              With Wilson the Thunderbirds have signed seven players to letters of intent for next season, including freshman point guard Mike Josserand from Las Vegas’ Centennial HS. The Thunderbirds also inked sophomore wing Davis Baker, a transfer from UC Irvine, and JC transfers Geoff Payne (F, Snow JC), Nick Livi (G, North Idaho), Tyler Quinney (F, Snow JC) and John Clifford (C, Snow JC).

T-Birds Sign Three More To Letters Of Intent

CEDAR CITY, Utah, May 17 – Southern Utah has signed three more men’s basketball players to national letters of intent. Nick Livi, a point guard from Seattle, Wash.; Davis Baker, a shooting guard from Coto de Caza, Calif.; and Mike Josserand, a point guard from Las Vegas, Nev., have all declared their intentions to play for the Thunderbirds next year.

Livi, a 6-1, 200-pound junior, earned first-team all-region and all-Scenic West Athletic Conference recognition and was named Idaho athlete of the year after averaging 16.5 points and 3.4 assists per game last year at North Idaho College. Prior to his time at NIC, Livi attended Eastern Washington for a season. Livi prepped at Seattle-area Eastlake High School, where he averaged 21.2 points, 5.3 assists and 4.0 steals per game as a senior.

“Nick is a guy I’ve watched and coached against and we’re really happy to sign him,” Reid pointed out. “He’s a first-team all-conference player from the Scenic West and with Geoff Payne that gives us two first-team guys from one of the best JC leagues in the country. Nick can play both guard spots, he’s an outstanding shooter and a good passer and a good team player. He has good experience and we think he’ll help us from day one.”

Baker, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound sophomore, played one season at UC Irvine before serving an LDS Church mission in the Canada Toronto West Mission. While at UCI he played in 19 games as a freshman. Prior to playing for the Anteaters, Baker was a two-time all-CIF performer at Capistrano Valley High School. At CVHS he was named MVP of the South Coast League following both his junior and senior seasons and was named all-Orange County after averaging 21.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a senior. He was a second-team all-Orange County selection as a junior when he averaged 23.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

“Davis is another kid with some good experience,” Reid noted. “He was a two-time all-CIF player, which is big, and he got some good experience in a good program at UC Irvine prior to his mission. He’s an outstanding shooter and I like his maturity. We felt we needed a shooter on the wing to help the program and he should fall right into that role.”

Josserand, a 5-11, 165-pound freshman-to-be, earned first-team all-division and all-Sunset League recognition after averaging 15.4 points and 7.1 assists per game last year at Centennial High School. He was named MVP of the Las Vegas Prep Classic and was a four-time Centennial Athlete of the Week as well as a Las Vegas Review-Journal Player of the Week.

“Mike is an excellent young point guard who has the ability to run the team,” Coach Reid said. “He gets the ball where it needs to be and is a true point guard who will help us build our program for the future. He comes to us highly recommended and we’ve been very impressed with what we’ve seen of him.”

In summary, Reid said he felt the players will help both in the short-term and the long run.

“We’ve got some experienced kids and we’ve started a base of freshmen who will help us in the future,” he pointed out. “Nick will come in and help right away and Davis will be able to help us as soon as he gets his legs and conditioning back after returning from his mission. Mike is a good young player who will be an important part of our program in the years to come.”

With three players signed earlier in the spring Reid has now received commitments from six players.

Thunderbirds Sign Three

CEDAR CITY, Utah, April 16 – Southern Utah University’s men’s basketball team has received commitments from three players to join the Thunderbirds for the 2007-08 season, first-year head coach Roger Reid announced today.

Committing to join the Thunderbirds are Geoff Payne, Tyler Quinney and John Clifford. The group is already well acquainted with Coach Reid, as all three are following Reid to SUU from Snow College, where the team compiled a 23-8 overall record and finished first in the Scenic West Athletic Conference last year.

“We’re really excited to get three players of this caliber into our program,” Reid said. “They were all important parts of the team that won the Scenic West Conference championship last year, a conference that is probably the toughest junior college league in the country.”

Payne, a 6-foot-7, 195-pound forward from Sandy, Utah  (Alta HS), was a third-team all-American and a first-team all-league selection last year as well as the Scenic West’s Player of the Year as a freshman. He was second in the SWAC and seventh in the NCJAA last year in scoring at 21.7 ppg. Payne was also second in the league and seventh in the nation in field goal percentage last season, when he connected on 68.2 percent of his regular-season shots. He was also fourth in the SWAC in rebounding (6.6 rpg), seventh in steals 1.8 spg) and eighth in free throw percentage (.714). As a high school player, Payne helped Alta High to a Utah 5A state championship his senior season when he was named the state’s Most Valuable Player.

“Geoff is one of the finest players I’ve ever had a chance to coach,” Reid pointed out. “He’s an outstanding player who is very fundamentally sound. He’s averaged over 20 points and six rebounds a game the last two years but he’s a complete player who works hard on the defensive end of the court as well.”

Quinney, a 6-7, 210-pound forward from Sandy (Alta HS), Utah, came off the bench to average 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last year while shooting 57.9 percent from the floor. A career 62.2 percent shooter at Snow, Quinney averaged 5.7 ppg as a freshman.

“Tyler is another player who shoots at better than 50 percent from the floor but he’s one of the best defensive players I’ve coached,” Reid pointed out. “He plays hard every second he is out on the floor and he can guard anywhere, on the perimeter, in the post, he’s a tremendous defensive player.”

Clifford, a 6-10, 210-pound center from South Jordan (Bingham HS), Utah, averaged 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Badgers last year. Although he had just six starts he was still able to rank eighth in the SWAC in blocks at 0.5 per game and was 14th in rebounding.

“John is a player we looked at as a freshman and said ‘by the time he’s a junior he will really take off,’” Reid pointed out. “Well next year he’ll be a junior and I think we’ve proven ourselves right. He’s a guy who has made tremendous improvement over the past two years and he will really help us. He can rebound and he can shoot the ball on the perimeter quite well for a big guy.”

Reid also noted that the staff will have additional signings to announce later this spring.