utah state signs two

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Utah State Gets Two From Orange County--(April 15, 1999)

Utah State is announcing that it has received a Letter of Intent from Rashawn Thomas (5'-9" Fr. PG/SG) from Fullerton Junior College according to an official press release quoting head coach Stew Morrill. Thomas will be a sophomore at USU next season. "We are delighted to be adding Rashawn to our program," Morrill said. "He brings excellent basketball ability, along with outstanding character. The fact that he has three years remaining is a tremendous bonus. As I told him, I have had great results with three-year junior college players during my coaching career." Thomas averaged 16 points, four assists and three steals, while shooting 40 percent from three-point range in his freshman year at Fullerton Junior College. He was named first-team all-conference in the Orange Empire Conference. "Rashawn has the ability to play both the one and two guard positions, which will obviously add versatility to our team," Morrill said. "He is an excellent perimeter shooter and values the defensive end of the court.His junior college coach, Dieter Horton, was unbelievably unselfish in allowing Rashawn to leave after just one year," Morrill added. As a senior at Victor Valley High School in Victorville, Calif. Thomas was named the Mojave River Conference Most Valuable Player. He averaged 23 points, four rebounds and three steals per game that season.

Thomas is the first signee for the USU basketball program in the spring signing period.

The second signee--and this is unconfirmed yet, and comes off our message board from a fan--is Mike Stowell (6'-4" Sr. SG) from Capistrano Valley. We haven't been able to reach Mike or his family tonight to confirm this one, and presumably if he did sign a letter, Utah State will issue an official press release as soon as they actually receive his signed LOI. Mike is a very gifted athlete, a solid player, and notwithstanding that a lot of people thought J.J. Sola (Loyola Marymount) and Nate Hair (USC) were the top players at Capo Valley this year, Mike has been a steady, solid contributor at Capo for three years. He's very sound fundamentally, an excellent shooter, and a great young man, and will be an excellent pickup for the Aggies.