Nov. 10, 2005
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The University of Iowa’s men’s basketball program has signed three student-athletes to national letters of intent. The announcement was made today by Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford.
Players announcing their plans to attend Iowa include Cyrus Tate, Justin Johnson and Jamie Vanderbeken.
Tate is a 6-8, 240-pound forward attending Northeast Community College in Norfolk, NE. Tate is in his first season at Northeast and will have three years of eligibility at Iowa. In three games this season he is averaging 19 points and eight rebounds per outing.
Tate is a native of Homewood, IL. As a prep senior at Homewood-Flossmoor HS he averaged 15 points and nine rebounds per game.
“Cyrus is a player that will be able to contribute to our inside game immediately,” said Alford. “He has the size to fit right into the style of Big Ten basketball.”
Johnson is a 6-6, 190-pound guard who attends Tyler Community College in Tyler, TX. He averaged 14.5 points as a freshman and will have two years of eligibility at Iowa. Johnson has started this season on a positive note, averaging 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots per game. Johnson, a native of Tyler who attended John Tyler HS, received pre-season All-America recognition in the October issue of Basketball Times.
“Justin is a very athletic player and a very good shooter,” said Alford. “He had a solid first season at Tyler and is off to a great start this year. He will be able to play any of our perimeter positions and add flexibility to what we can do offensively.”
Vanderbeken, 6-10, 235, attends Quinte Secondary School in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. As a prep junior he averaged 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots per game. He played well this past summer at the Nike All-American Camp and the Las Vegas Main Event.
“Jamie has great hands and a big body,” said Alford of the prep senior. “He is a player who can shoot the ball with good range, someone who can step away from the basket and be a threat.”
“We feel this is an excellent start to a good recruiting class,” added Alford. “We’ve added size and athleticism. We hope to finish strong during the spring period. It’s a plus that two of these three players will join our program with junior college experience.”
Along with the three additions, Iowa plans to redshirt forward Kurt Looby, a 6-10 junior who is in his first year with the Iowa program after attending Tyler Community College. Iowa has five seniors on its 2005-06 roster and two scholarships remaining for next season.