Eleven
Newcomers Set to Join Men's Basketball Program
Posted
6/27/07 9:21 AM
CEDAR RAPIDS,
Iowa -- Eleven
student-athletes have signed letters of intent to join the Mount
Mercy College men’s basketball team this fall, Head Coach
Paul Gavin announced.
Seven newcomers
are freshmen, including five from the state of Iowa. The list
includes former Marion preps Marty Tope and Jake Cram, Clint Cunningham
from Van Buren High School, Derek Havel from Lone Tree High School,
and Justin Waring from North Linn High School. Joey Brown hails
from Circle Christian School in Orlando, Fla., while Chris Hansmann
was a Wrenshall prep from Wrenshall, Minn.
Tope, a 6’4”
forward from Marion, was a first-team all-WAMAC, first-team all-Metro,
and third-team all-state selection after averaging 13.7 points
and 6.7 rebounds per game as a senior at Marion. Cram, a 6’3”
wing from Marion, was a first-team all-WAMAC and second-team all-Metro
standout who averaged 11.3 points and 2.6 boards per contest for
the Indians.
Cunningham,
a 5’10” point guard from Douds, was a first-team all-Southeast
Iowa Superconference performer. He was also Van Buren’s
MVP after averaging 10.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.5 steals per
game.
Havel, a 5’10”
point guard from Lone Tree, was a first-team all-conference, first-team
all-district, and third-team all-state pick after leading Lone
Tree to the 2007 state tournament. He scored 13.1 points and six
assists per contest while shooting 41.5 percent from 3-point range.
Waring, a
6’0” guard from Troy Mills, averaged 17 points and
five assists to earn first-team all-Tri-Rivers Conference and
first-team all-district honors as a senior at North Linn in 2005-06.
Brown, a 6’2”
point guard, was runner-up for Florida Athletic Coaches Association
District Player of the Year after averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds,
6.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game for Circle Christian. He
was a 1,000-point scorer during his four-year varsity career and
was the team’s MVP as a junior and senior.
Hansmann,
a 5’9” point guard, was an all-conference selection
who averaged 13 points and seven assists for Wrenshall.
Four transfers
also join the Mount Mercy program, including Brett McGee from
St. Gregory’s University (Okla.), Eric Raasch from Southwestern
Community College, Cory Polke from North Country Community College
(N.Y.), and Lucas Blood from Rochester Community and Technical
College (Minn.).
McGee, a 6’6”
forward, comes to Mount Mercy after two years at NAIA Division
I Vanguard University (Calif.) and one year at St. Gregory’s.
He played in 48 games at Vanguard from 2003-05 after being named
2003 Metro Conference Offensive Player of the Year for Putnam
County North High School in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Raasch, a
6’1” guard from Bridgewater, was a two-year starter
for Southwestern Head Coach Jerry Drymon, a former Mount Mercy
all-American. Last season he averaged 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds,
and 2.7 assists per contest to help Southwestern to its first
winning season in six years.
Polke, a 6’2”
forward from Lyons, Ga., averaged 12 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.8
assists, and two steals per game for North Country. He was a second-team
all-Northern Independence Conference selection as a freshman at
North Country after averaging 10.2 points and 7.5 boards per contest.
Blood, a 6’2”
wing from Mounds View, Minn., averaged 11 points and four rebounds
per game during his two-year career at Rochester. The Yellowjackets
were 44-16 over that span, finishing fifth in the nation in 2006
and winning the Minnesota Community College Conference South Division
title in 2007.
