dickens to lmu

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Aggers' LMU Lions Add Another Big
Man, Jason Dickens--(June 8, 2001)

We just got a very interesting press release from John Shaffer, the Sport Information Officer of Loyola Marymount University, and this one is big news for the Lions as Steve Aggers has picked up another excellent player:

Transfer To Add More Size For Lions
Fifth Signee of 2001 Recruiting Class
to Transfer From Davidson

TRANSACTIONS: College Men’s Basketball -- Jason Dickens (Davidson) will transfer
to Loyola Marymount University.

Los Angeles, CA (June 8, 2001) -- The Loyola Marymount University men’s basketball team added their fifth commitment of the 2001 recruiting class with Division I transfer Jason Dickens, a 6-8, 240-pound junior who is coming from Davidson College.

Size continues to be the theme of head coach Steve Aggers’ first full recruiting class, as Dickens becomes the fourth player 6-8 or taller to sign with the Lions. Dickens, who played at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Ariz., prior to playing two years at Davidson, will have to sit out the 2001-02 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules.

“Jason is a great way to end a very solid recruiting class in our first full year of this rebuilding process,” said Aggers, who led the Lions to a seven-game turnaround in his first season at the helm in 2000-01. It was the second best turnaround in school history. “Jason had two solid years at Davidson, and he now has the opportunity to redshirt and learn our system for a full year. We are very excited about the future impact he will have in our program.”

Davidson finished the 2000-01 season 15-17 and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference. Dickens was third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game. He led the squad shooting 50 percent from the field (87-174) and was fourth on the squad with 4.7 rebounds per game. In playing 27 games and averaging 17.7 minutes per game as a freshman, he finished averaging 6.3 points per game and 3.1 rebounds.

At Salpointe, Dickens helped the team to a 24-5 record and a birth in the state championship game his senior season. He was an Arizona Republic all-state selection in averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds. In the state semifinals he scored 45 points to tie a record set by Mike Bibby, who plays in the NBA with the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Dickens joins Miroslav Neskovic, Oscar Forman, Charles Brown, Jr., and Andy Osborn to comprise the Lions’ 2001 recruiting class. Brown, who led De La Salle High School to the Northern California championship game and a 27-5 record, and Osborn, who led Longmont High School to the Colorado quarterfinals and a record of 22-1 while ranking among the state’s top five in points, rebounds and blocks, both signed during the early signing period in November. Osborn was also voted runner-up for the State of Colorado Player of the Year.

Neskovic and Forman signed in April. Forman, a graduate of Unley High School in Kingswood, South Australia, was one of three high school players to try out for Australia’s under-23 national team. He spent this past year at the Australian Institute for Sports (AIS), which is equivalent to the Olympic Development Program in the United States. Neskovic, who is a native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is transferring to LMU from Casper Junior College in Wyoming. Another 6-foot, 9-inch forward, Neskovic led the Wyoming Conference with 17 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. He finished the season as a first team all-conference selection.

“The players we have signed come from winning backgrounds and are all products of solid coaching,” said Aggers, whose 2001 recruiting class finished with an overall record of 82-37 (.690). “They are good students that have outstanding academic credentials.”

The Lions return eight players and welcome the addition of redshirt transfers Keith Kincade and Kent Dennis to a program that finished in a fifth place tie with San Francisco in the West Coast Conference standings. The Lions’ 2001-02 season will start at the Legends Classic on November 13. An opponent and location has yet to be announced.