Sonics Sign Ford

Sherell Ford, selected 26th overall in the NBA draft by the Seattle Sonics, has signed a three-year contract.

The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 26.2 points last season for Illinois-Chicago and was selected Midwestern Collegiate Conference player of the year.

Under the NBA’s new rookie salary cap, he is slotted to earn within 20 percent of $430,000 this season, $494,500 in 1996-97 and $559,000 in 1997-98.

“I think he’s more of a pick for down the road than he is for this coming year,” general manager Wally Walker said after the draft in June. “It would be a pleasant surprise for us if he comes in and plays a lot.”

Eldridge Recasner, the CBA’s most valuable player last season with the Yakima Sun Kings, signed with the Houston Rockets.

Recasner, a former University of Washington guard, averaged 20.4 points and 5.1 assists last season for Yakima and also appeared in three games for the Denver Nuggets.

“Eldridge is a very heady guard with great shooting touch and range,” said Bob Weinhauer, vice president of basketball operations for the Rockets. “He is very tough-minded and that is one of the things that we really like about him.”

Bryant Reeves, selected sixth overall in the NBA draft, signed a three-year contract with the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies.

Reeves, the 7-foot center known as “Big Country,” who led Oklahoma State to the NCAA Final Four last season, will earn an estimated $1.45 million in the first year of the deal that is limited by the league’s new rookie salary cap.