Men's Basketball Lands Second All-American

April 26, 2001

NORMAN, Okla. - University of Oklahoma men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson announced today that junior college sophomore and Tulsa native Ebi Ere (pronounced EBB-ee EAR-ee) has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Sooners next year.

Ere, a 6-5, 215-pound wing, was a second-team All-American this past season at Barton County (Kan.) Community College as he averaged 25.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. He joins Jason Detrick as OU junior college recruits who earned All-America acclaim this year (Detrick was a first-team selection). Ere shot .485 from the field, .353 from three-point range and .840 from the free throw line for the year, and directed Barton County to a 29-9 overall record, a district tournament title and seventh-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.

An OU signee out of McLain High School in Tulsa, Ere was a unanimous NJCAA all-tournament team selection last month after averaging a tourney-high 32.3 points over four games, three of them Barton County victories. He scored 52 points against Southwest Tennessee, good for the third-highest single-game output in the 54-year history of the tournament. Ere followed that performance with a 40-point effort against Northwest Mississippi. He was also presented with the tournament's Sesher Sportsmanship Award.

As a senior at McLain High School during the 1998-99 season, Ere averaged 28.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals. He was named the Oklahoma High School Player of the Year.

"Ebi is a prolific scorer," said Sampson. "His strength is that he puts the ball in the hole. He has great size for a wing. I think he has the potential to come in and impact our team right away. And we're excited about the fact that he's an Oklahoma kid. We've always said that recruiting this state is a priority and we're thrilled that Ebi will be with us for the next two years. He's a player I know our fans will be excited about.

"This recruiting class - with Ebi Ere, Jason Detrick, Quannas White, Matt Gipson and Jabahri Brown - is as good a class as we've ever had. And Ebi just caps it off. The thing about recruiting is not so much how kids are rated, but more about fulfilling your needs. By losing Kelley Newton, J.R. Raymond, Nolan Johnson and Tim Heskett, obviously our needs were in the backcourt. With Quannas, Jason, Ebi and Matt, we feel we won't miss a beat. Those kids will come in and will pick up right where our guards left off. Our goal will be to win a Big 12 championship, make the NCAA Tournament and do some damage. This team will have a chance to do that."

Ere chose OU over several schools, including Illinois and Michigan State.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Basketball Lands Second All-American

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