USA Basketball Signs One; Announces Departure Of Two
The Jags announced three changes to the Men’s Basketball roster on Wednesday.
First, they announced that they signed junior college transfer John Brown, a 6’4″ forward from Olney, Illinois Central College. He is the first of four expected spring signees. He joins three players who signed with USA in the early signing period in November.
Brown will be used at the wing/small forward position but could play power forwardin a smaller lineup.
Brown averaged 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 32 games with Olney. He shot 51.8 percent on field goals and 63.5 percent at the free throw line. As a freshman he averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
On the same day as their announcement of the addition of Brown, they also announced two players will leave the program.
Forward Mychal Ammons and guard Aakim Saintil will both be leaving the program. Ammons, a 6’6″ 225-pound Vicksburg, Mississippi native, would have been a senior next season, has hired an agent with the intention of playing professional overseas. Ammons was the third leading scorer last season with 9.3 points per game and second in rebounds with 7.2 per game. He averaged 27.9 minutes per game and shot 43.9 percent from the floor, 37.1 percent from 3-point range and 64.4 percent from the free throw line. He also added 35 blocked shots, 13 steals, and 44 assists.
Saintil, a 6′ 160-pound Roselle, NJ native, would have been a sophomore next season, wanted to transfer closer to home to be near his mother who is ill. Coach Graves said that he wants to transfer to a Division I school in the northeast or, if nothing is available, wants to transfer to a junior college for a year in hopes of being recruited by different schools in the northeast.
Saintil averaged 22.7 minutes per game and averaged 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He shot 32.9 percent from the field, 27.1 percent from 3-point range and 73.9 percent from the free throw line. He also recorded 32 steals and 57 assists (second on the team).
With two open scholarships, coach Graves wants to add another guard who can handle the ball and add depth in the backcourt. They will probably look towards the JuCo route in order to add experience.