Ask anyone at Tarleton State about its men's basketball recruiting class, and mum's the word.
But while talking about recruits may not be on head coach and athletic director Lonn Reisman's agenda, signing them to scholarships certainly is.
The Texans announced months ago the signing of two high school prospects and Division I transfer Chuck Guy, a Fort Worth native coaches believe will be a standout point guard.
More recently, they have added a pair of junior college players in De'Andre Upchurch of Highland Community College in Highland, Kan. and Jonathan Cathey-Macklin of Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, Ill.
Upchurch, a 6-2 guard from Flint, Mich., led the nation in 3-pointers made with 118 and was fifth in scoring at 25.9 points per game in Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association. He was named first-team all-conference in the Jayhawk East Conference.
Upchurch was a prep star at Flint Northwestern High School, but his future appeared in jeopardy when "he and three associates participated in a drive-by shooting that injured a young mother after he was cheated out of $30 in a local dice game," reads a report published by Mlive.com, a Michigan news website, on Jan. 20 of this year.
The crime occurred in 2008, and Upchurch was originally charged with assault with the intent to murder, according to the Mlive.com report. But because he was not the trigger puller and he pleaded to a lesser offense, a judge sentenced him to "100 hours of community service, five years of probation and 90 days of bootcamp…"
Upchurch's performance on the court and in the classroom do suggest he's left the incident in his past. Reports are that he graduated from Highland with his associate's degree.
Calls to Highland head coach Jerre Cole seeking comments regarding Upchurch were not returned, but he did respond to a text message Tuesday.
"As far as I know, De'Andre is going to Tarleton," read the message from Cole. Unnamed sources close to Tarleton basketball have also confirmed Upchurch is on campus. Calls seeking comments from Reisman were not returned.
Cathey-Macklin is a 6-9 forward labeled by his junior college coach as "A Division I talent; very athletic, runs the floor really well, blocks shots, rebounds, a good defensive player who can score around the post."
Wabash Valley head coach Dan Sparks confirmed Cathey-Macklin is now a Texan, and says he was a starter who helped his team to the national tournament.
"He's a good kid who I never had a problem with, a good teammate and a happy go-lucky kid," Sparks said. "On the court, he's so athletic, you just never know where he's going to spring from for a block or a rebound."
Cathey-Macklin, from Milwaukee, Wis., averaged 4.6 points, 4.3 boards and 1 block per game at Wabash Valley.
Cathey-Macklin has also had a scrape with the law, having been convicted of criminal trespass to a dwelling and theft of moveable property less than or equal to $2,500 in Milwaukee County in 2010. Both crimes are Class A misdemeanors according to Wisconsin statutes.
It has been reported Tarleton has also signed additional recruits, but coaches aren't disclosing such information and the last recruiting release published on Tarletonsports.com was on May 7.
The two high school signees made public are Dublin honor graduate Jakob Damstra, a 6-9 center who led the Lions to their first Class 2A regional tournament appearance since 1995, and Michael Hardge, who averaged better than 20 points per game at 5A Georgetown.
Guy, a point guard from Fort Worth whose intent to transfer to Tarleton was publicized by the school in early May, averaged 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals as a sophomore at Division I Arkansas-Little Rock last season.
Upchurch, Guy and Cathey-Macklin each have two years of eligibility remaining.
Tarleton went 27-6 last season, winning the Lone Star Conference regular season championship before falling in the finals of the league's postseason tournament. The Texans reached the South Central Region semifinals in the NCAA Championship.
No comments:
Post a Comment