Deep Recruiting Class Shed Light on Preston, Men’s Basketball Program
KSU’s men’s basketball program concluded a disappointing regular season this February under its first year head coach Lewis Preston, finishing the regular season with an abysmal 3-28 record and failing to claim one league win in the Atlantic Sun Conference (0-18).
Even with that said, there is reason to believe Preston’s ground-up program is on the rise.
The team will look dynamically different this fall when it hits the court for its second season under Preston’s leadership. This year’s recruiting class included seven players heading into an announcement on June 1 that a former ESPN 100 recruit and a former valedictorian would join the team.
Willy Kouassi and Bernard Morena, both natives of the Ivory Coast, were granted release by Auburn University and have decided to transfer in to play for the Black and Gold.
“We are very excited to have both Willy and Bernard to be part of our men’s basketball program,” said Preston. “Willy will give us a defensive and offensive presence close to the basket, whereas Bernard, being a combo-forward, will be able to give us a different dimension on offense.”
Kouassi, a 6-foot-10-inch center, was once ranked as one of the nation’s top centers by prominent scouting service Rivals.com. He was also tabbed as a top 100 player as a senior and was an NCA All-American at Central Park Christian Academy in Birmingham, Al.
Morena, who played with Kouassi at Central Park Christian Academy, is a 6-foot-8-inch forward. Morena was a valedictorian in high school while also managing to average 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and 3.5 steals per game during his final year in prep ball.
Kouassi was a big name coming out of school. He was recruiting by the likes of Alabama, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt, Memphis and Missouri, but he eventually settled at Auburn.
There is no doubt Kouassi could be one of the top caliber players to join the Owls’ basketball team since its inception as a DI program in 2005.
Kouassi’s size will definitely make huge improvements to the Owls’ frontcourt, which struggled last season due to the absence of former conference block leader LaDaris Green.
KSU’s team has also had serious depth issues in the past few seasons. As of now, the team only lists five players on roster including A-Sun Freshman of the Year Delbert Love, two-time All-Conference guard Markeith Cummings, senior Aaron Anderson and junior forwards Brandon Dawson and Andrew Osemhen.
Dawson, who saw most time aside from Anderson in the post last year, stands at only 6-feet-6-inches.
KSU’s losing streak from last year was attributed greatly to the lack of depth on the bench.
With seven new players added to the roster, a former All-Conference performer, another year with Love and the recent addition of two former SEC players, there is reason to believe the Owls could make a huge turnaround in the 2012-13 campaign.
“This class sets the foundation for what we want to achieve as a program here at Kennesaw State,” said Preston. “These young men are the type of people that we’re looking for to grow this basketball program and we are willing to go all over the country to find the right talent, and we’ve done that right from the get-go.”
Others included in this year’s class are Cole Hobbs of Greater Atlanta Christian High School in Norcross, Ga., Cameron Jones of Woodstock, Va., Nigel Pruitt from Maryland, Yonel Brown of Berkmar High School in Lawrenceville, Ga., Myles Hamilton of Cleveland, Oh., Jordan Montgomery of Orlando, Fl., and Brandon Williams of West Palm Beach, Fl.
