Wednesday, April 20, 2005

(April 20, 2005) - East Tennessee State University men's basketball coach Murry Bartow announced on Wednesday that 6-foot-8 forward Kenyona Swader (Smyrna, Tenn.) has signed to play for the Buccaneers beginning with the 2005-06 season.

"Kenyona will add a lot of versatility to our team," Bartow said. "He's someone who can score from the perimeter and inside. He has great length and can really shoot the basketball. We're always excited to bring in-state players to ETSU and Kenyona is one of the best from Tennessee."

Swader, who spent the last two seasons at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kan., was a highly recruited prep player out of Smyrna High School, earning rankings as the state's third-best player from various recruiting services following his junior year. He scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds a game as a senior, and was selected first team all-district and all-region. A second-team all-state pick, he played in the Tennessee East-West Boys All-State Game.

At Neosho, Swader averaged 12 points and six rebounds, shooting 55 percent from the floor and posting a 27-point game in his team's season opener. He was a second-team All-Jayhawk Community College Conference pick.

The Bucs now have one scholarship left to reward for the 2005-06 season. ETSU already has a recruiting class of four players, which includes guards Dante Williams (Romulus, Mich.), Shaun Keaton (Albany, Ga.) and Courtney Pigram (Memphis, Tenn.), as well as forward Eryk Thomas(Fremont, Calif.).