The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Anderson Inks Five For UAB
11/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB has signed five standout basketball players to National Letters of Intent head men's basketball coach Mike Anderson announced Wednesday. Four prep phenoms and one of the top junior college prospects in the country are the newest Blazers. The four high school standouts alone have UAB's recruiting class rated No. 23 nationally by Rivals.com.
"We believe this is a very good class of signees," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "These five young men have great character, they fit well into our system and they are winners. We're excited about the future and happy they have chosen to be a part of the UAB basketball program and its family."
The newest Blazers are Tauras Dortch, a 6-2, 185-pound guard from Birmingham and Ramsay High School; teammates Howard Crawford, a 6-8, 200-pound forward and Curtis Nickson, a 6-9, 245-pound center both of whom hail from Eutaw, Ala., and Greene County High School; Jonathan Tiller, a 6-3, 190-pound guard from Marietta, Ga., and Wheeler High School and Mykal Riley, a 6-6, 185-pound forward from Pine Bluff, Ark., and Panola (Texas) Junior College.
"This will be a big class for us," said Anderson, whose team will lose seven seniors after this year. "Think about it. We have to replace seven guys - that's half our basketball team. What you try to do is address the needs you are going to have and we've done that with these five young men. We needed size. We needed strong perimeter players. With the signing of these five young men, we have the nucleus we were looking for in this year's group."
Dortch was a second team all-state pick for Kelly Cheatham's Ramsay Rams. The point and shooting guard averaged 15 points, three assists and two steals per game as a junior in leading Ramsay to a 23-10 record. He was selected for the North-South All-Star team over the summer. Dortch was picked No. 7 on the Birmingham News list of 2006 High School Basketball Super Seniors - the top 12 seniors in the state.
"Taurus is the first signee for us from the city of Birmingham," Anderson, a Birmingham native, said. "We're excited he chose to play at home. He wants to be here and be a part of our program and that desire means a lot. He is a very athletic guard who fits perfectly into our style of play."
Crawford and Nickson formed a veritable juggernaut for Rodney Wesley's Greene County Tigers in 2004-05. The duo led Greene County to the Alabama Class 4A state title with dominating inside play. Crawford averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and two assists per game and was named first team all-state by both the Alabama Sports Writers Association and the Birmingham News. Crawford was also the MVP of the Class 4A state tournament and is listed No. 5 on the recent Birmingham News list of 2006 Super Seniors.
"Howard is a skilled forward with size," Anderson said. "He's probably the best skill forward in the state of Alabama. He's a very versatile basketball player who is looking to have a good senior year. Howard has been a part of a state championship at Greene County, so he has that winning mentality, which is something we look for in our players."
Nickson averaged 14 points, 12 rebounds, six blocked shots and three assists from the post for the Tigers. He was a second team all-state pick by the Alabama Sports Writers and the Birmingham News while helping Greene County to a 26-4 overall record. Nixon is listed one spot above Crawford on the Birmingham News 2006 Super Seniors list, giving UAB the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 7 seniors in Alabama, according to the rating.
"Curtis is another player from a state championship program," Anderson said. "He's a guy with good size and a good pair of hands who runs the floor well for a guy his size. He has a nice feel for the game and is capable of scoring. We feel like he's only going to get better as he continues to work."
Tiller, a sparkplug shooting guard for storied Wheeler High School, averaged 10 points and five rebounds in primarily a sixth-man role for the 2004-05 Georgia Class 5A state champion Wildcats. Tiller helped Wheeler to a 31-1 overall record and a top-20 national ranking last year. He has been selected as the top sleeper in the state of Georgia by recruiting guru Rick Bolus's Potential Recruiting Service.
"Jonathan is another player who won a state championship," Anderson said. "Defensively, he's one of the better players we could have signed for our system. He's a guard with some size who can play two or three positions. One thing we like about him is that he does all the little things to help his team win."
Riley is rated the No. 44 junior college prospect in America in Rivals.com's top 65 junior college players listing. He is currently averaging 25.5 points and six steals per game through four contests for Panola College. He averaged 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals per game in his freshman season for coach Scott Monarch's Ponies. He was a standout prepster at Pine Bluff High School in his native Arkansas for coach Ron Maragne.
"Mykal is a junior college player who is having a good career thus far," Anderson said. "He can score, rebound and is very athletic. As a player coming in as a junior, we look for him to be seasoned and be able to make a more immediate impact than perhaps a freshman would, but again, he's the type of basketball player who fits our system and we're excited about his potential."
Anderson and the Blazers expect to sign two more recruits for the 2006 recruiting class. UAB opens its 2005-06 regular season next Friday, Nov. 25, against UMass in the Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic in Springfield, Mass. The game will air live at noon CT on FoxSportsNet's national feed.
