lbsu519

SoCalHoops College Recruiting News

Comings & Goings: LB St. Finally
Makes An Announcement--(May 19, 1998)

Well, they finally made the announcement today, May 19, 1998, and the suspense has been just killing us: Long Beach State has signed two players this spring: Allan Gomez (6'-5" So. SG/SF) from East LA College and Richie Smalls (6'-8" So. F) from St. Catherine JC in Kentucky.

Long Beach Head Coach Wayne Morgan also announced that assistant coach Tom Lewis has been promoted to the job of Director of Recruiting, effective immediately, that junior guard Jermel Bradley will be transferring to Cal State Dominguez Hills, and that freshman guard David Egans has been given a release from his scholarship to free him to transfer to another school.

And since Long Beach State took such pride in putting together their press release on spring signings (by delaying it until today rather than releasing the signings as they occurred), we're just going to pass it along the same way we received it. Maybe there's a reason they delayed announcing only two players, maybe not. We don't know, and neither does anyone else for that matter. Oh well, here it is:

"Long Beach State men’s basketball coach Wayne Morgan announced today (May 19) that Allan Gomez (East Los Angeles CC) and Richie Smalls (St. Catherine Junior College, St. Catherine, Kentucky) have signed national letters-of-intent to attend Long Beach State in the fall.

"Gomez and Smalls join the 49ers’ fall signees, Ugonna Onyekwe, a 6-8 forward from Nigeria by way of Mercersburg Prep Academy in Pennsylvania; Charles O’Neal, a 6-2 1/2 guard from Florida CC in Jacksonville, Florida; and 1998 redshirt transfer Ramel “Rock” Lloyd (G, 6-4, Syracuse University ) as newcomers to the 49er roster.

"49er Head Coach Wayne Morgan said, “We are very pleased to add Allan and Richie to our basketball family at Long Beach State. They are two players whom I believe will have an immediate and positive impact on our program.

"49er Associate Head Coach Clyde Vaughan says Gomez is an outstanding shooter who will bring a new dimension to the Long Beach offense in 1998-99. Gomez averaged 23.0 points per game, with 5.77 rebounds. He shot 43.0% from three-point range for ELAC, making 77-of-179 three-point attempts.

"Colorado State and Tulane also recruited the 6-5 wing player. Smalls, at 6-8 and 205 pounds, is an extremely athletic player who plays taller than his listed height, according to Vaughan. Originally from The Bronx, NY, Smalls played at Walton HS, and also played for the nationally renowned Riverside Church (NY) AAU team. At St. Catherine, Smalls averaged 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.5 blocked shots per game. He was also recruited by Bradley, Louisville, Fordham, Indiana State and Middle Tennessee State.

"St. Catherine coach Ryan Swanson says Smalls 'is very athletic and can put the ball on the floor. He probably would have scored even more, but we had five kids who signed with Division I teams, so we had a lot of kids with 10-16 points per game.' ”