ACU adds JUCO all-America
4/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Pleasant adds two transfers
Rasul, Tony Brown should accelerate rebuilding job
ABILENE -- Klint Pleasant's rebuilding job on the ACU men's basketball program got a big boost Tuesday with the addition of a pair of junior college transfers, including Midland College all-America Hakim Rasul.
Rasul -- who led the Chaparrals to a third-place finish last season at the junior college national tournament -- will be a junior for the Wildcats during the upcoming 2004-05 season. He's joined by power forward Tony Brown, who transfers to ACU from Northland Pioneer Junior College in Arizona.
Rasul, a 6-6, 220-pound forward from Tucson, Ariz., comes to ACU with the resume befitting a Division I player. A two-time first team Class 5A all-state player in Arizona, he was the state's "Mr. Basketball" as a senior after averaging 26 points and 10 rebounds per game at Pueblo High School.
Last year as a sophomore at Midland College (coached by former ACU head coach and director of athletics Shanon Hays), Rasul averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game to lead the Chaps to a 30-7 record, an improvement of 18 games over the previous season.
Rasul was named second team National Junior College Athletic Association all-America, and was also named to the all-tournament team at the NJCAA national tournament.
He averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Chaps in the post-season, and they finished third at the national tournament, beating Southeastern Illinois in the third-place game behind Rasul's 22 points. He was the Texas Junior College Player of the Year, a Region V first team selection and first team all-conference selection.
He transferred to Midland College from Yavapai Community College in Arizona where he averaged 20 points and nine rebounds as a freshman. As a senior in high school, he led his team to a 28-2 record, and he once scored 60 points in a game in high school.
"We saw Hakim play several times, and we feel like he's immediately one of the most athletic and best-scoring forwards in the country," said Pleasant, who will be in his third season as the Wildcats' head coach next season. "I believe he'll have an instant impact on our program. There's no reason he can't do the same things at the Division II level that he was doing at Midland College."
Brown, a 6-8, 255-pound forward from Phoenix, will be a 27-year-old sophomore after spending the last nine years in the United States Army, stationed in various outposts, including Germany.
Brown played at Northland Pioneer Junior College in Arizona in 1995-96 where he averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, helping his team finish 19-9 on the season.
Brown, a native of Phoenix, originally signed with Eastern Michigan after his freshman year at Northland, but a coaching change led him to military service.
"Tony brings an awful lot of maturity and leadership to our program," Pleasant said. "He's got good size and he's extremely skilled around the basket."
