By www.GoDucks.com
November 13th, 2005
Oregon Brings
On Two Midwest Stars For 2006-07
EUGENE, Ore. —
The University of Oregon men’s basketball team
has signed high school seniors Joevan Catron of Harvey, Ill., and Tajuan
Porter of Detroit, Mich., to National Letters of Intent, head coach Ernie
Kent announced Thursday.
“We have gone into the Midwest and recruited two excellent young men who the
fans at McArthur Court are just going to love,” said Kent. “Our fans
recognize skill and talent and that’s one of the reasons ESPNU chose Mac
Court as one of the greatest venues to play in of all time. When they see
what these two young men bring to the floor, it’s going to be unbelievable
in there.
“And I can’t
say enough about the tremendous families both these guys come from, and
really it’s an extended family when you get into support they get at their
schools,” said Kent.
Catron, a 6-6 forward, averaged 14 points per game as a junior at Thornton
Township High School. He was rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com, which
called Catron an “undersized big man who battles and gets tough buckets
inside...he’s a max effort guy. You won't outwork him.”
“The Pac-10
has had a number of great forwards from the Chicago area like Sean Lampley
at Cal and Michael Wright at Arizona and Joevan is going to continue that
tradition and make Chicago proud of the success he’ll have,” said Kent, who
himself is a native of Rockford, Ill. “He has a great energy and passion for
the game of basketball.
“Joevan has
the ability to play two or three positions in our offense that will showcase
all his talents,” said Kent. “He can score in a variety of ways and his
toughness and style of play will ignite our Mac Court fans.”
Porter, a 5-6
point guard, is a former teammate of current UO sophomore Malik Hairston at
Renaissance High School and played with Hairston in 2004 when Renaissance
won the Michigan state class B championship.
As a junior,
Porter averaged 18 points per game to lead Renaissance to a 22-3 record and
the state semifinals. In a 67-50 win against Rogers, Porter recorded a
quadruple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. He
also torched Rogers for 32 points later in the season. Like Catron,
Scout.com gave Porter a three star rating saying he has, “serious range from
the perimeter and (is) a strong player.”
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“What I love
about Tajuan is that he possesses all the characteristics of an outstanding
point guard like leadership, court awareness, tremendous shooting and great
ball-handling ability,” said Kent. “He always seems to make the right
decision when the ball is in his hands.
“At a
tournament we saw him at in Las Vegas, Tajuan was one of the top players out
of the 3,500 that were there,” said Kent. “He’s a difference maker with a
big-game mentality. He’s going to be the next in the long tradition of
excellent point guards we’ve had at Oregon.”
Oregon has two seniors on the 2005-06 roster who will
graduate in the spring in guard Brandon Lincoln and center Matt Short.
