Pilots Men's Basketball Excited About 2009 - 2010 Recruiting Class
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Pilots Men's Basketball excited about 2009 - 2010 recruiting class SEPTEMBER 09, 2009 LSUS Men’s Basketball completed their 2008 – 2009 season with their 5th consecutive trip to the NAIA National Tournament and won their 4th consecutive GCAC Tournament Championship. The Pilots have won 20 plus games each of their seasons since reinstating the program in 2003 and have set the standard extremely high for future Pilots. To maintain the status of “Louisiana’s most winning college basketball program over the past 6 years,” the Pilots will have to fill the void of losing 5 players off last year’s team. LSUS Pilots leading scorers Chris Gatlin (16.5) and teammate Tyrone Hamilton (15.9) recently signed professional contracts to play basketball in Germany. Replacing over 80% of their offensive scoring was one challenge for Head Coach Chad McDowell this off-season that didn’t seem to bother him much. “We return a 3 year starter in point guard Jared Stevenson, GCAC Freshman of the Year Derrick Parker, Brandon Mims, and several other key members from last year’s team,” commented McDowell. “Scoring was the least of our concerns in recruiting this year. We feel scoring will take care of itself. Now that doesn’t mean we didn’t sign some guys that can really put the ball in the basket in bunches. It just simply means we were looking for some things in this year’s recruiting class other than scoring. With all that being said, we couldn’t be more excited about a group of young men than we are about this year’s recruiting class. Each of our new players understands the expectations and they are eager to continue the winning tradition that has been established.” The 2009 – 2010 recruiting class contains 11 new faces to the program which includes two high school players. The remaining 9 players of the recruiting class come to the Pilots as transfers from other institutions. The recruiting class is as follows: Mark Jackson (Shreveport/Bossier Parish Community College) Jake Greene (Dry Creek/De Ridder High School) David Jackson (Minden/Minden High School) Caleb Washington (Franklin/Bossier Parish Community College) Isiah Bazile (Houston/Midland College) Greg Shyne (Minden/Navarro Junior College) Brance Davenport (Abbeville/Bossier Parish Community College) Ernie Pickens (Lafayette/Colorado State University – Pueblo) Jayce Barnum (Mesquite, Nevada/University of Nevada – Las Vegas) Quinton Washington (Shreveport/Arkansas Baptist University) Charles Mitchell (Marion/Northeast Mississippi Community College) Mark Jackson is a 6’4 forward who prepped at Fair Park High School and was selected as the Shreveport/Bossier All- City Player of Year for his senior campaign. He averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds a game his final two seasons at Fair Park leading the Indians to win the 2006 State Championship. Jackson transfers to LSUS after playing his last two seasons for Coach Louis Bonner at Bossier Parish Community College. At BPCC, he averaged 14 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists per game. As a freshman at BPCC, Jackson was selected as the All-Louisiana Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player. Jake Greene is a 5’10 point/shooting guard from Dry Creek, Louisiana. Greene prepped for De Ridder High School where he played for his father, Coach Mike Greene. Greene’s list of accomplishments both on the floor and in the classroom is very impressive. A few of Greene’s accolades include but are not limited to the following: 2005 - Honorable Mention All-District; 2006 – 3 point State Champion, All-District 2nd Team; 2007 – 4A District MVP, All-Southwest LA 1st Team, Honorable Mention All-State; 2008 – 4A All-District 1st Team, All-Sate 2nd Team. Greene also stood out in Track and Cross Country. He was the District Champion in several events in track his last two years of high school and was a two time State Champion in Cross Country. The most impressive stat on Greene doesn’t come in the field of athletics but more importantly in academics. Greene carried a 4.0 all throughout his high school career and was valedictorian of the 2009 graduating class. He scored a 28 on his ACT and was name to several Composite Academic All-State teams. David Jackson is literally a “big” addition to the Pilots standing at 6’8. He prepped at Minden High School for Coach Alan Shaw. Jackson help lead the Crimson Tide to a 23-11 record and a District 1-4A Runner Up finish during his senior season. Jackson led his team in rebounding averaging over 10 rebounds per game. He was rewarded for his great play during his senior year by being named to the 4A All-District Team. Jackson will be a big presence for the Pilots over the course of his college career. David will be joining former Crimson Tide teammates in Derrick Parker and Greg Shyne. Caleb Washington transferred to LSUS last spring and officially joins the roster this season. Washington played his high school ball for Franklin High School where he averaged over 15 points and 10 rebounds each game. Washington stands 6’6 tall and weighs 235 pounds and will be a very solid post player for the Pilots. While in high school, Washington was selected to the All-District 1st Team and All-State 2nd Team. He spent the first two seasons of his college career under Coach Louis Bonner at Bossier Parish Community College where he help lead the Cavaliers to a winning season (17-14) and an appearance in the conference tournament championship game. While at BPCC, Washington averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds a game and was selected to the All-Conference 1st Team. Isiah Bazile is a 6’4 guard who transfers to LSUS from Midland College. Bazile is originally from Houston, Texas, but spent his last two years of high school at Minden High School although he didn’t compete on the Crimson Tide basketball team. Bazile signed out of high school with Midland College where he averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds a game in 15 minutes of action each game. His team was 13-1 at the break last season when family reasons brought him back to Minden. Midland Charparals went on to post a 33-4 overall record losing in the NJCAA National Championship game. Bazile is a former teammate of Derrick Parker for the Pilots. The two of them played together during the summers of 2007 and 2008 on an AAU team based out of Houston, Texas. Greg Shyne is another Minden High School native that decided to transfer to LSUS. He spent last season as a member of the Navarro Junior College Bulldogs . Shyne is a 5’11 shooting guard who played his high school ball for the Crimson Tide and Coach Alan Shaw. His senior year for Minden was a good one as he averaged 26 points per game and was name Co-MVP of the district alongside teammate then and now Derrick Parker. Shyne was also named to the Shreveport/Bossier All-Area Team and was a selection for All-State Honorable Mention. Shyne will have three years left of eligibility with the Pilots and is sure to “wow” the crowd from time to time with his incredible athleticism. Brance “Coco” Davenport is a 6’2 guard who transfers to LSUS from Bossier Parish Community College. Davenport is from Abbeville, Louisiana, where he prepped for Abbeville High School and Coach Jeff Davis. Davenport was selected to the All-District 1st team his senior season for Abbeville averaging over 20 points and 4 assists per game. Davenport has spent the past two years leading the BPCC Cavaliers to two winning seasons by averaging 15.6 points per game. His scoring average ranked 10th in the competitive Region 14 Conference and earned him a spot on the Region 14 All- Conference Team. Davenport was equally as impressive on the boards as he was scoring by averaging 6.8 rebounds per game. He is known for his incredible work ethic and will be a strong guard for the Pilots for the next two seasons. Ernie Pickens is joining the Pilots after a two year period of working in his hometown of Cecilia, Louisiana. Pickens is a 6’3 guard who last played during the 2006 – 2007 season as a member of the NCAA Division 2 Colorado State University – Pueblo Thunderwolves basketball team. Pickens saw action for the Thunderwolves in all 28 games averaging 6.5 points a game. Before joining the Thunderwolves, Pickens spent two seasons playing for Miles Community College. Pickens prepped at Cecilia High School where he was an all-around athlete making the All-District 1st Team in football, basketball, and track. He averaged 18 points a game his senior season in basketball and was named District MVP. Jayce Barnum joins the Pilots as a freshman after spending over 2 years on an LDS Church Mission. Barnum is a 6’7 post player from Mesquite, Nevada, who found his way to Shreveport and LSUS through a relative in the area. Barnum prepped at Virgin Valley High School where he averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds a game his senior season. He was also a standout in football earning various honors his senior year as a safety in 2004. Barnum will become eligible for competition this spring and will have 4 seasons of eligibility. Quinton Washington also joins the Pilots after being away from school and basketball for a while. Quinton graduated from Huntington High School in 2004 and was a key member to some of the Raiders all time great teams. Washington earned All-District honors his last 3 years in high school and was named to Shreveport/Bossier All City Team his senior season.