Big body…
[QUOTE][B]HPU gets commitment from 6-9 Florida prep star
[I]By Tom Berry, Enterprise Sports Writer
Septemer 28, 2007[/I][/B]
High Point University’s search for a big man ended last weekend when 6-foot-9 center Chad July made a verbal commitment to play basketball for the Panthers.
July, a senior at Gainesville (Fla.) High, also received interest from Fordham, Tennessee Tech and The Citadel, among others. He cannot sign until Nov. 14, which is the first day of the early sign*ing period and his 18th birthday.
“We’re going to have two celebrations that day,” July said on Thursday afternoon.
July committed on Friday during his official visit to High Point.
“I really, really liked the campus. It was wonderful,” he said. “High Point has great facilities and great coaches.”
July was an unheralded prospect after averaging about 8 points and 6 rebounds as a high school junior. But he lost 25 pounds over the summer, grew an inch and began attracting attention while playing for his AAU team, the Jacksonville Lee Bulls.
“I got my body right,” said July, who now weighs 245 pounds. “I think rebounding is my major asset. If the ball comes off, I will go get it. I’ve also got some good post moves and I’m working on my mid-range game from about 10-15 feet.”
July predicted that his increased stamina and strength will lead to a productive high school senior year.
“It will be a lot different this season,” he said. “I’m going to average 16 or 17 points and 11 rebounds, at least.” In late May, an AAU teammate and close friend of July’s – guard Dante Anderson – died in an automobile accident in Gainesville. Anderson was considered a national top 60 prospect who already had received scholarship offers from Florida State, Miami, Missouri and others. July has dedicated his basketball career to Anderson.
July will be the third newcomer for High Point during the 2008-09 season. Jourdan Morris, a 6-6 forward, is enrolled at HPU but sitting out after transferring from St. Bonaventure, where he scored 13 points against Syracuse last year. Jacob Ioti made a verbal commitment over the summer, after the 5-11 point guard from York (Pa.) Catholic averaged 20.3 ppg as a junior while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range.
This season, High Point returns seven of its top nine scorers from a team that finished 22-10, including 2007 Big South Conference player of the year Arizona Reid and all-conference candidates Mike Jefferson and Eugene Harris at guard. The Panthers open on Nov. 9 at Charlotte, then play in the Preseason NIT in Seattle the following week.[/QUOTE]