ARTICLE FROM LAMAR UNIVERSITY

BEAUMONT - A pair of junior college teammates and an Australian shooting guard have all signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball for Lamar University in 2012-13, announced head coach Pat Knight on Tuesday.

Amos Wilson and Hondo Webb of Collin County Community College and Matt Hancock from Melbourne, Australia, join three fall signees for the Cardinals. Lamar, which finished 23-12 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000, loses six seniors off this year's team.

"All three players add to a strong recruiting class that we already had," said Knight about his newest additions. "I like what each of them brings to the team because they are versatile and will be able to help right away."

Wilson is a 6-foot-5 forward who led Collin in scoring at 16.3 points per game as a sophomore. The Allen, Texas, product added 5.6 rebounds per game last year for the Cougars while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 36 percent from 3-point range.

"Amos is the type of athlete you like to have in our league (Southland Conference)," said Knight. "He can post up but is also a strong 3-point shooter. I look for him to be one of our leading scorers right away as we try to replace the scoring that we lost."

Wilson was named first-team all-conference and All-Region 5 after helping Collin to a 21-9 record last year. He scored in double figures in all but two games, posting a season-high 29 points on 14-of-18 shooting against El Centro College. Wilson averaged 10.0 points and 3.5 rebounds as a freshman when the Cougars finished 24-7.

As a senior at Carrollton Newman Smith High School, Wilson was named District 10-4A MVP after scoring 22.9 points per game. Wilson helped his team to a 29-4 record, including a 12-0 district mark, and a Class 4A state ranking as high as second.

Webb will have three seasons left at Lamar after spending just one year with Collin County. A 6-foot-3 point guard, Webb posted averages of 6.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game as a freshman. Webb had a personal-best 11 assists against El Centro College before missing the final 10 games of the season with a broken foot.
 

Webb had an outstanding prep career at Melissa High school where he capped it off by being named the Texas Class 2A State Player of the Year. A native of Denison, Texas, Webb helped the Cardinals to the Class 2A state semifinals as a senior.

Webb was named the District 12-2A MVP as a senior after posting averages of 14.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 3.0 steals per game. A first-team Academic All-State selection, Webb had similar numbers as a junior of 14 points, 10 boards and 5.5 assists per contest.

Hancock joins the Cardinals after a strong high school career at Scotch College in Melbourne. As a senior, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard averaged 19.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 2.8 assists per game en route to being named league MVP for the second straight year.

"Matt can really shoot the basketball," said Knight. "I expect that he'll be able to open up the floor for us by stretching the defense with his shooting ability. I really like Matt's versatility, as well."

Hancock twice played on the Victorian All-State Schoolboys team, helping his team to the silver medal at the Australian Schools Championships as a senior when he served as Vice-Captain. He was also named to the Associated Private Schools All-Star Team, and played in the U16 and U18 National Classic Tournament where his team won national titles.

Lamar's three fall signees were high school seniors Donnell Minton and Jason Smith of Indianapolis and Kielan Blanks of Spring Hill, Tenn. Smith is a 6-foot-4 wing player, while the 6-foot Minton and the 5-foot-10 Blanks are point guards.