MAVS SIGN CHICAGOLAND GUARD
4/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 15, 2005
High-scoring guard Brandon Long of Harvey (Ill.) Thornton High School has signed a letter of intent to play for the UTA men's basketball team, it was announced today.
Long earned all-conference in the SICA East and all-area after averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for Thornton High School as a senior. He led the team with 50 three-pointers and was named to the all-tournament at the Big Dipper XXXII Holiday Tournament after leading the Wildcats with 25 points, including six three-point field goals, in the championship game.
As a junior, he averaged 18.1 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game for Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields. He led the team with 70 three-pointers and helped RCHS to the SICA South Conference Championship. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds for RCHS as a sophomore in 2003 to earn all-conference honors.
"Brandon is a great addition to our team," said UTA head coach Eddie McCarter. "Brandon is a young guard with a tremendous upside. He is able to create his own shot and is a pure shooter. With Jarrett Howell and Brandon Dawkins being seniors next year, Brandon will be able to come in and make a quick impact on our team and in our league."
He averaged 22.0 points per game at the 17-and-under Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Nationals in 2004.
Academically, Long has maintained a 4.0 grade-point-average as a senior and was a member of the Honor Roll for three consecutive seasons.
Long is the first non-Texas signee in four years and the first Chicagoland signee since Shawn Talley and Willie Wright in 1992-93.
Long's signing brings the recruiting class to three. Earlier, Anthony Vereen and Terrell Henry of Houston Gulf Shores Academy signed NLI in November to play for the Mavericks.
UTA returns its entire team after a 13-15 campaign and eighth-place finish in the Southland Conference. UTA dropped an opening round decision to SLC regular-season champion Northwestern State, 81-67.
- utamavs.com-
