Brewster star one of two guards to sign with EWU
The letter of intent didn’t arrive until late Wednesday evening, but Mike Burns didn’t seem to mind the wait.
“It’s a very important signing for Eastern Washington basketball,” Burns, the Eagles’ second-year coach, said Thursday of the letter received the night before from Brewster High School standout Michael Taylor, who had received scholarship offers from a host of Division I schools, including Texas Christian, UC Irvine and Saint Mary’s.
Taylor, a 6-foot-3 combo guard and the son of Brewster head coach Tim Taylor, is one of two recruits to sign with the Eagles during the early signing period. The other is Omar Krayem, another 6-0 combo guard, from Lower Columbia Community College in Longview, Wash.
In addition, the University of Idaho signed Lorenzo Ecford, a 6-9 forward from Chicago’s Kennedy-King Junior College, and Gonzaga University added Abdullahi Kuso, a 6-9 center from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, to its three-man recruiting class that also includes 6-5 combo guard Matt Bouldin and 7-3 center Will Foster, a pair of high school prospects who signed on Wednesday.
In Taylor, EWU landed a basketball junkie who has experienced remarkable success at the high school level.
Brewster is 78-5 over the past three seasons and finished 23-4 last season, with Taylor averaging 20 points, eight assists and nine rebounds a game.
“He’s really a point guard, but he can play any of the three guard spots,” Burns said of Taylor, who averaged 16.8 points during last year’s 1A state tournament and scored 25 in a 59-54 overtime loss to Bellevue Christian in the championship game.
“Michael was a very sought-after recruit who is going to bring a lot to the table just in the way he’s been a winner throughout his high school career. He’s a special kid, with a chance to do some great things at Eastern.”
Burns said Krayem is also a proven winner, having earned tournament MVP honors after averaging 18.3 points and four assists during the Red Devils’ run to last year’s NWAACC championship.
“Both of these kids will be able to contribute right away,” Burns said, “and that’s huge.”
At Idaho, coach Leonard Perry said the Vandals scratched a major itch with the signing of Ecford, who averaged 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds as a freshman at Southwest Missouri State-West Plains Junior College.
“He’s got some toughness to him, and I think he fits in very well with what we need at this point,” he said of the 210-pounder, who is averaging 14 points and nine rebounds so far this season. “We need some help on our front line, and that’s what we tried to address during recruiting.”
The 220-pound Kuso, who averaged 11.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a freshman at TCC last winter, gives Gonzaga another long, active post player.
“He brings us some additional athleticism inside,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said of the Nigerian native, who chose GU over Clemson and Massachusetts. “He’s got good hands and he can run the floor.”
Women’s basketball: Three high school players signed letters of intent to join the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team next season.
The Eagles landed Jessica Huntington from Yakima, Nichole Scott from Carson City, Nev., and Danielle Greaby from Everett.
Huntington, a 5-foot-8 guard, averaged nine points, five rebounds and five assists and was the Central Washington Athletic Conference player of the year as East Valley went 25-2 last season. Scott is a 6-2 post that averaged 12 points and eight rebounds as a junior. Greaby, a 6-1 guard, averaged 10 points, six rebounds and three assists for Mariner last season.
Golf: Annie Brophy of Gonzaga Prep signed a letter of intent to play for Notre Dame. Brophy was the fourth-place finisher in last spring’s State 4A tournament. She joins her sister, Katie, a senior at Notre Dame.
Volleyball: Amanda Yausie and Chenoa Coviare have signed with Eastern Washington. Yausie, a setter from Colonsay, Saskatchewan, played on Canada’s national “B” team. Coviare is a middle blocker from Medford, Ore.