Signing Day

[50's PONY]

Wednesday is National Letter of Intent Day!
Go Mustangs!

[mathman]

Wednesday is National Letter of Intent Day!
Go Mustangs!

Did anything happen???

[mrydel]

I am still a free agent.

[d_pony]

waiting on the slow mail from Poland - when in will announce both recruits

[abezontar]

I am still a free agent.

Are you sure about that? I heard through the grapevine that your agent inked a deal with jtstang for the 2007 season that included the use of lap space if needed for jt's date.

[jtstang]

I am still a free agent.

Are you sure about that? I heard through the grapevine that your agent inked a deal with jtstang for the 2007 season that included the use of lap space if needed for jt's date.

Just don't tell my wife about my date.

[mrydel]

No ink on the contract. Merely a gentleman's agreement to which I will always abide. And Jt's date, who is his wife, is always welcome also. At this time MustangBill and I are about the only occupants of our row so we will also have room for all the little Jts as they come along.

[mustangbill67]

the more the merrier!

[SMUFan]

Kwiatkowski and Rhodes signings are supposed to be announced either today or Monday.

[PonyPride]

Good call, SMUFan.

From the SMU athletic department:

KWIATKOWSI AND RHODES SIGN NLI TO JOIN MUSTANGS IN 2007-08
Mustangs Will Have Seven Newcomers in Men’s Basketball
 
DALLAS (SMU) --- SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty announced that Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Bennie Rhodes have signed National Letters-of-Intent to become student-athletes for the Mustangs beginning with the 2007-08 season. Kwiatkowski is from Lee Academy in Maine, and Rhodes is at Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina and announced his signing on his birthday.
 
The addition of Kwiatkowski and Rhodes give the Mustangs seven newcomers in Doherty’s inaugural recruiting class at SMU. These two join November signees Mike Walker and Papa Dia from South Kent School in Connecticut along with Texas natives Ryan Harp of Abilene, Robert Nyakundi of Arlington, and Alex Malone of Mansfield. They also add to a group that was ranked 25th nationally by Hoop Scoop after the early signing period.
 
“This is a great day for SMU basketball,” states Doherty. “The future looks very bright as we have signed a terrific class of student-athletes.”
 
These newcomers will join 2007-08 seniors Jon Killen, Paulius Ritter, Derrick Roberts, and Dez Willingham as well as junior Bamba Fall and sophomore Cameron Spencer. The 2007-08 Mustangs will look to build upon the foundation that was set during the 2006-07 season. In Doherty’s first season on the Hilltop, the Mustangs broke ground on the $13-million, 43,000 square-foot Crum Basketball Center and unveiled the new million dollar scoreboard and video board in Moody Coliseum. On the floor, the Mustangs improved their RPI rank by more than 60 spots from the previous season while finishing with a 14-17 record. The team had a school-record six games on national television, a seven-game winning streak which was the longest since 1999-2000, and the 11-3 start was the best since 2000-01. The team allowed the opponents just 62.7 points per game, which was the third-best scoring defense in SMU history.

“This had to be a big class for us, both in numbers and in its ability to make an impact,” Doherty said. “Next year, we will have four seniors and seven freshmen out of 13 scholarships, so there is a big gap in there. This incoming class is going to have to step up over the next couple of years.”
 
2007-08 Newcomers
Papa Dia                      F          6-9       250      St. Louis, Senegal (South Kent [Conn.])
Ryan Harp                    G         6-4       180      Abilene, Texas (Abilene Cooper HS)
Tomasz Kwiatkowski   C         7-1       245      Poland (Lee Academy [Maine])
Alex Malone                 G/F      6-8       185      Mansfield, Texas (Mansfield Timberview HS)
Robert Nyakundi          F          6-8       200      Arlington, Texas (Arlington Bowie HS)
Bennie Rhodes G         6-6       185      Oakland, Calif. (Mt. Zion Academy [N.C.])
Mike Walker                G         6-0       190      Iowa City, Iowa (South Kent [Conn.])
 
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Tomasz Kwiatkowski (7-1, 245) played center for coach Carl Parker at Lee Academy in Maine. He averaged seven points and six rebounds as he helped his team to a 23-13 record in 2006-07. Kwiatkowski entered Lee Academy after earning three letters playing basketball for High School No. 1 in Wloclawek, Poland. He helped lead his school to the 2006 state championship and played for the U16 and U18 Polish national teams. Kwiatkowski is a three-star recruit by Scout.com and Rivals.com. He is the son of Miroslaw and Grazyna Kwiatkowski.
 
"We are thrilled to sign Tomasz as we needed another big man in this class,” state Doherty. “Tomasz can run and catch very well. He has a terrific feel of the game that is evident in his ability to pass the ball. In time, I think he has a chance to be a very good post player for SMU.”
 
---------------------
Bennie Rhodes (6-6, 185) averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists as a guard for coach Antonio Fozard at Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina. In 2005-06, Rhodes led Castlemont High School in Oakland, California, to the Northern California Division I semifinals while averaging 19 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Rhodes is a three-star recruit by Scout.com and Rivals.com. He is the son of Bennie Rhodes Sr. and Jeannie Smith.

“Bennie was presented to us by a family friend here in Dallas,” explained Doherty. “When I viewed his DVD I was very impressed with his athleticism and his skill level. He is a high major talent that will be able to achieve great things if he demonstrates the drive and commitment."

[mathman]

Great class Doh. Hopefully the next few years will be even better.

[Kiper]

Coach Doherty will be able to sign a few next year, but after that, it's going to be pretty dry for a couple of years, when Bamba Fall and Cameron Spencer will be the only graduating seniors in successive years.

[mrydel]

Either we will be good or attrition will happen.

[abezontar]

I bet there will be some attrition, maybe a few guys don't pan out and go somewhere else, there will definitely be more than one scholarship each of those years.

[gostangs]

These are good players, which means we will lose at least one a year to grades.