AIKEN, S.C.--New USC Aiken Head Men’s
Basketball Coach Vince Alexander has announced his first group of recruits.
Two freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors make up the first wave of
incoming players. Alexander, who accepted the head coaching position
at USCA in May, will welcome Chris Brown, Kenny Gore, Lukas Varga, Anthony
Durrett and Christopher Rodriguez to the 2005-06 team.
“This is a very talented group of young men that believe in what
we want to accomplish here on the court and in the classroom,” Alexander
said. “They bring a strong desire to see USC Aiken be successful.”
Brown is a 6-foot-1, 186-pound, guard from Columbia, S.C., and will enter
USCA as a junior. He played at Dreher High School before attending Tallahassee
Community College in Tallahassee, Fla. At Dreher he averaged 20 points
per game on his way to being named South Carolina All-State, all-area and
all-region. Brown was also selected to play in the South Carolina North/South
All-Star Game. As a senior he led DHS to the 2003 South Carolina Class
AAA State Semi-Finals.
As a freshman at Tallahassee Community College, Brown played in all 29
games, connected on 38.3 percent of his shots from beyond the three-point
arch and averaged 6.2 points per game. He also contributed 2.2 rebounds
and 1.7 assists per contest. As a sophomore he started 25 of 29 games,
and averaged 10.8 points and 2.8 rebounds for the Eagles.
Gore is a 6-foot-3, 197-pound, guard from Little River, S.C., and a graduate
of North Myrtle Beach High School. He will enter USCA as a sophomore after
playing one season at Brunswick Community College in Supply, N.C. He averaged
13 points and five rebounds per game at North Myrtle Beach and was selected
all-region as a junior and senior. Gore played in 18 of Brunswick’s
34 games a year ago and averaged 1.3 points per contest for a team that
claimed the NJCAA Region 10 Championship.
Varga spent 2004-05 at a prep school in Germany but the native of Slovakia
played four years at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The 6-foot,
180-pound, guard, averaged 22 points, four rebounds and five assists
per game during his senior year (2003-04) at Socastee. In addition, he
shot 42 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.
At the end of the season Varga was selected to play in the South Carolina
North/South All-Star Game. He will enter USC Aiken as a freshman.
As a junior at Socastee, Varga teamed with current Pacer Josh Poston
to lead the Braves to the 2003 South Carolina Class AAAA State Semi-Finals.
Varga was selected as Socastee’s student-athlete of the year in
2002 and 2003, to the South Carolina AAAA All-State team in 2003, and
participated in the prestigious Adidas ABCD Basketball Camp in 2004.
Durrett, a 5-foot-9, 150-pound, guard, will come to USC Aiken as a junior
after spending last season at Brunswick Community College. He played
in 29 of the Dolphins’ 34 games, averaged 10.3 points per game
while shooting 57 percent from the field. He also averaged two assists
and two rebounds per contest. Durrett finished third in the NJCAA in
three-point field goal percentage at 58 percent (61-of-105).
Following his sophomore campaign he was selected to the NJCAA Regional
All-Tournament Team. The Charlotte, N.C., native began his collegiate
career at Surry Community College in Dobson, N.C.
Rodriguez is the largest of the five new Pacers. The freshman forward
measures 6-foot-8 and weighs in at 225-pounds. He averaged 14 points,
14 rebounds and two blocks per game at Colegio Carmen Sol in Puerto Rico.
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