Thursday, August 13, 2009

Robinson, Alexander join WNCC men's basketball program

Russ Beck as only been on the job as Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball coach not even three weeks and he is quickly signing players for next year’s team.

Shortly after taking the job, Beck announced that Jamelle Barrett will be joining Beck at WNCC. Barrett, a 5-foot-9 guard who average 10.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, was the starting point guard under Beck at the College of Southern Idaho last season. Barrett is from Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Beck also announced the signing of two talented inside players. Geddes Robinson is a 6-5, 235-pound forward from Bronx, N.Y., while Kwame Alexander is a 6-7, 230-pound post player from Moreno Valley, Calif. Both will be sophomores after transferring from four-year institutions.

Robinson comes to WNCC as a red-shirt freshman from NCAA Division I Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Robinson averaged 8.2 points a game, 4.9 rebounds a game and shot 51 percent from the field.

Beck said Robinson will be a huge asset to the Cougar program.

“I am very excited about adding Geddes to our team; I love coaching big strong physical kids,” he said. “He will provide us with an extremely physical presence at the power forward position, he is the kind of guy that really knows how to use his body.”

Beck said Robinson played in 27 games last season and started 17 for the Division I team.

“He decided to transfer to find a better situation and position himself to play at a higher level of Division I basketball,” Beck said. “As you can see his production per minute is very impressive and i think he is a potential double-double guy for us here at WNCC. He is a proven guy having already played at the NCAA Division I level, I am counting on him to provide us with some toughness and leadership this season.”

Alexander transfers to WNCC from Irvine Valley College in California where he averaged 11 points and 12 rebounds a game. Alexander helped the Lasers to a 14-17 record last season while earning honorable mention all-conference honors in the Orange Empire Conference.

"I am very excited to add Kwame to our program," Beck said. "He is very skilled and can score in a variety of ways.

Beck also likes that Alexander will be a force on the inside.

“Kwame comes to us with a reputation as being an excellent rebounding force,” he said. “He will be a sophomore for us this season and I love that he has already experienced some success at the college level. He certainly adds some athleticism to our frontline and I would hope that when he and Geddes are on the floor that there are not rebounds for everyone else."

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