Wildcats add six for 2003-04
Three Division I transfers will be among new faces
ABILENE -- Even after watching his team improve seven games in 2002-03, ACU head basketball coach Klint Pleasant knew he had to make his team more athletic to face the rigors of the Lone Star Conference, which now includes reigning NCAA Division II champion Northeastern State.
And that's exactly what Pleasant and his coaching staff did Wednesday when he announced the addition of six players for the 2003-04 season. The Wildcats added four transfers (three NCAA Division I transfers and one junior college player), while also signing two high school players to binding letters of national intent on the first day of the late signing period.
The Wildcats -- who will return starters Rodney Lee, Cliff Green and Tucker Pierson off of last year's 13-14 squad -- will be bolstered by the additions of NCAA Division I transfers Adrian Scott of Southeastern Louisiana University, David Baxter of the University of Detroit, and Atiba Alexander of Lipscomb University, as well junior college transfer Charles Chinn of Cerro Coso, Calif., Community College.
Also signing letters of intent with the Wildcats were Josh Stephen of Nashville, Tenn., and Chris Farr of Abernathy.
"When you take this class and put it with what we have coming back next year, we have the potential to have a really good basketball team next year," said Pleasant, who will be in his second season with the Wildcats in 2003-04. "Obviously we have to find the right chemistry and the right mix, but I already feel really good about going into the season with these guys."
Pleasant, who said he would still like to add one or two more players in the next few weeks, pointed to Baxter, Chinn, Scott and Alexander as the players who could have the most impact on next year's Wildcats.
Baxter comes to ACU from the University of Detroit where he played under former Tulane head coach Perry Watson. Baxter, who will be a junior in 2003-04, is a 6-3, 185-pound shooting guard who was a highly recruited prep standout at Commerce High School in Detroit.
Baxter, who averaged 25 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals per game in high school, was an all-state selection as a senior by both the Detroit Free-Press and the Detroit News. The MVP of his team as a senior, Baxter was the second-leading scorer in the very competitive Detroit Public School League.
"We were very fortunate to be able to get David," Pleasant said of Baxter, whose father, David Sr., was an honorable mention all-Big Ten player at Michigan in 1978 and a 1979 draft pick of the Seattle SuperSonics. "He can do a lot of things with the basketball, and he puts a lot of pressure on opponents with his offensive capability."
Alexander will be a redshirt freshman in 2003-04 for the Wildcats after transferring from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. Alexander is a 6-5, 185-pound wing who should play right away for the Wildcats. Alexander averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game at Briarcrest Christian High School, and he was selected as one of the top 25 players in the state of Tennessee as a senior.
He was a first team all-conference and all-state selection at Briarcrest, and he was one of 12 players from Tennessee selected to play in the Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Game.
"Atiba is a very athletic player who can score in a number of different ways," Pleasant said of Alexander, who red-shirted last year at Lipscomb. "He'll play right away for us, and he has a chance to be a really, really good player in this league."
Chinn was a high school teammate of Green at Lanier High School in Jackson, Miss., where the two won a state championship. Chinn, who transfers to ACU from Cerro Coso Community College in California, is a 6-7, 180-pound shot-blocking, rebounding forward.
In his two years at Cerro Coso, Chinn averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks per game. He was fifth in the state of California in blocked shots as a sophomore, the season he led his team to the Southern California Junior College Tournament.
As a senior at Lanier HS, he and Green led the team to a state championship, and Chinn averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game as a high school player.
"Like most of the guys we recruited, Charles is extremely athletic and plays with a lot of energy," Pleasant said.
Scott transfers to ACU from Southeastern Louisiana University and will be a junior in 2003-04. Scott averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game as a senior at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
"Adrian has an outstanding physical presence; he's very strong and athletic," Pleasant said. "We think he can play a couple of different positions for us."
Stephen is a 6-4, 200-pound wing from Lipscomb High School in Nashville, Tenn., who chose the Wildcats over both Harding and Lincoln (Mo.) Memorial. He averaged 18 points and seven rebounds per game as a senior while shooting 60 percent from the floor. He was named MVP of his district as a junior and senior, and was a two-time all-region selection.
"We were really fortunate to get Josh," Pleasant said. "He can come in here with an understanding of how we want to do things, and I think he can blossom into a fine player in this league."
Farr, a 6-9, 200-pound center, led Abernathy to the Texas Class 2A state tournament where the Antelopes lost in the semifinals. Farr, who had 16 points in the semifinal loss, averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds and led his 2002-03 team to a 29-6 record as a senior. He was a two-year all-district selection, and was an all-tournament selection at the state tournament.
Farr, a second team selection to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's all-South Plains team, is a two-time regional track meet qualifier in the 110-meter high hurdles.
"Chris has a tremendous upside," Pleasant said. "He's got some things you can't coach: He's 6-9 with good feet and good hands. His best basketball is definitely in front of him."
The six latest additions to the Wildcats' squad come on the heels of the fall signing of DeSoto forward Charles Stoker, who helped lead the Eagles to the Texas Class 5A state championship. Stoker, who had 19 points and nine rebounds in DeSoto's 94-73 state-title game win over Corpus Christi Ray, was an all-state tournament selection.
