san diego state adds two

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

San Diego State Adds Two: Deandre Moore
& Curtis Washington--(May 2, 2000)

San Diego State finally was on the receiving end today of an LOI, which was a change, especially after so much news about the school either not renewing scholarships of several players and others choosing not to return on their own. The University announced this morning that it has signed two players to LOI's: DeAndre Moore (5'-9" So. PG) from Compton HS who attended Vanderbilt a year ago, and Curtis Washington (6'-5" Jr. F) from Porterville JC.

DeAndre will have three more years of eligibility (he sat out last year after leaving Vandy), while Washington will have two more years of eligibility remaining. We haven't seen Washington play, but from all accounts we've received, he's a very good get for the Aztecs who will provide them with some excellent athleticism and scoring potential on the wing. DeAndre is a jet-quick point guard with an excellent handle, and if you want to know some history on him, just type his name into the 1997-1999 "Search SoCalHoops" thingee.

The two signings, together with the others, give San Diego State a total of five recruits for next year. The Aztecs had 12 players on the roster last season, and in addition to the 6 underclassmen who will be leaving (the original five reported on last month, plus Bradley Jackson who was granted his release just a few days ago), senior Donte Wilson graduates, and thus only five of last year's squad is set to return, and it looks like Fisher will still have three more scholarships left to give. We have not heard any more information about who else San Diego might be recruiting, but we'd expect they'll attempt to sign at least one more player, perhaps saving a couple more scholarships for some of this year's junior class.

While San Diego had also been recruiting Kenny Brunner (5'-10" So. PG) who played this past year at the College of Southern Idaho, as we reported last week in our articles about CSI, it appears Fisher has backed away from further recruitment of Brunner.

In any event, here's the official press release from San Diego State's sports information folks:

Men's Basketball Adds Two Recruits

Aztecs sign forward and point guard

May 2, 2000

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's head basketball coach Steve Fisher has announced that two more players have signed national letters of intent with the University.

Joining the Aztec program are forward Curtis Washington and point guard Deandre Moore. Washington is a 6-5, 180-pound swingman from Porterville Junior College. Moore (5-9, 175), who will have three years of eligibility remaining, spent the 1998-99 season at Vanderbilt. He did not play basketball over the past year while attending junior college.

"I like both of the players a lot," said Fisher. "They can help us make substantial improvement next season."

Washington was named the most valuable player of the California junior college state tournament last month. He led Porterville to the state title and a 33-4 overall record. Washington, who is from Washington, D.C. (Roosevelt High School), earned all-conference honors last season at Porterville after averaging 14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He picked the Aztecs over Louisville and West Virginia.

"Curtis will bring some toughness to our program," Fisher said. "He is not afraid of taking an important shot. He is a hard-nosed player that is also athletic."

Moore is from Norwalk, Calif., and attended Compton High School. He played in all 29 games for Vanderbilt during his freshman season, including nine starts. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 assists per game while picking up 24 steals during the course of the season. He was second on the squad with 78 assists. His best game at Vandy was a 14-point outing against Oregon. He had seven assists against Morehead State.

"Deandre is a player who has successfully competed at the highest level (Southeastern Conference)," Fisher said. "His leadership qualities really stand out. He is the kind of player that can make everyone around him better."

Five student-athletes have now inked with the program since November.

Incoming Aztecs
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Aerick Sanders F 6-9 205 Fr. Carson, CA (Gardena Serra HS)
Chris Walton F 6-8 215 Fr. San Diego, CA (University HS)
Curtis Washington F 6-5 180 Jr. Washington, D.C. (Porterville JC)
Karlo Kovacic G 6-4 205 Jr. Rijeka, Croatia (Modesto JC)
Deandre Moore G 5-9 175 So. Norwalk, CA (Compton/Vanderbilt)