Wildcats add six players
7/17/2008 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ABILENE ? ACU head basketball coach Jason Copeland on Thursday announced the addition of six new players to the men's basketball roster for the 2008-09 season.
Copeland has added four transfers (two from four-year universities) and two high school signees for the upcoming season. The Wildcats will be entering their fourth season under Copeland's direction in 2008-09, and last year's team turned in the program's best season since 1998-99.
The Wildcats finished 20-9 on the season and advanced to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament. The Wildcats' 20-win season was the program's first since 1998-99, and the appearance in the conference tournament was the program's first since the 1997-98 season.
The Wildcats added transfer forward Kendrick Johnson (South Plains College), transfer forward Marcus Washington (Midland College), transfer forward Milos Klimovic (Binghamton University) and forward Johnathan Uchendu (Purdue University). The Wildcats also signed high school forward Levi Gates (Austin McCallum High School) and guard Sawyer Reid (Friona).
"We're excited about each of those six kids and what they each bring to our program," Copeland said. "Those four transfers will bring us a lot of experience at the college level and some toughness up front. I'm looking forward to watching the two high school kids grow in our program."
Johnson, a 6-9, 250-pound junior, played one season at South Plains College and helped SPC win the 2007-08 NJCAA national championship. Johnson averaged 3.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while playing in 35 games last year as a sophomore.
Johnson was a Class A all-state performer at Morton High School in 2004-05, averaging 20.3 ppg and 14.8 rpg as a senior to lead his team to a runner-up finish at the state tournament. He signed with the University of Georgia out of high school and played one half of his freshman season in 2005-06, averaging 2.3 ppg and 2.1 rpg before undergoing season-ending surgery on both ankles in February 2006. He sat out the 2006-07 season before transferring to South Plains College.
Washington was a two-year player at Midland College, helping the Chaparrals win the 2006-07 NJCAA national championship. Washington, a graduate of Midland High School, averaged 7.6 ppg last year and scored in double figures in seven games. As a freshman in 2006-07, Washington averaged 4.9 ppg and 3.2 rpg on the Chaps' national championship team.
Klimovic ? a native of Sarjevo, Bosnia ? transferred to NCAA Division I Binghamton (N.Y.) before the 2007-08 season and averaged 4.2 ppg and 1.4 rpg as a junior. Prior to playing at Binghamton, Klimovic played two seasons of junior college basketball, the second year at Hillsborough College (Fla.). As a sophomore at Hillsborough, Klimovic hit 82 free throws, making 42 percent of his 3-point attempts. A first team all-conference selection, Klimovic led Hillsborough to 19 wins and the Suncoast Conference title.
Uchendu will have three seasons remaining after transferring to ACU from Purdue. As a freshman at Purdue in 2006-07, Uchendu played in 27 games, averaging 1.8 ppg and 1.0 rpg. Uchendu hit 65 percent of his free throws (17 of 26) and 48.5 percent of his shots from the field (16 of 33), helping the Boilermakers finish 22-12 on their way to a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue lost to eventual national champion Florida, 74-67, in the second round.
Uchendu played one year of prep school basketball at Millersburg Military Institute in 2005-06, averaging 9.5 ppg and 1.6 blocks per game and earning all-Bluegrass Conference honors. He was ranked as the 29th-best prep center in the nation by scouts.com and was evaluated as the 27th-best overall prep player in the nation by prepshoopsonline.com.
As a high school player at Robinson High School in Little Rock, Ark., Uchendu averaged 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.0 bpg as a senior. He was coached by Tony Adams, the father of current ACU guard Dante Adams.
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