The men’s basketball team just got bigger.
Head Coach Jimmy Tubbs announced Thursday that Brian Epps, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward from Georgia Perimeter Junior College, has signed a letter of intent to be a Mustang this fall.
Tubbs knows that, with two years of collegiate basketball under his belt, Epps will be ready to contribute.
“Brian is a good small forward who will bring maturity and experience to our basketball team,” he said in a press release.
In two years at Georgia, Epps averaged 12 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He also chipped in 1.6 steals and 1.4 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
“He can score from outside or dribble with penetration,” Tubbs said. “It’s also evident by his three-point percentage that he is an excellent threat from the outside.”
Epps’ signing makes him the fifth new player to join the team this off season.
Just last week, 6-foot-2-inches, 180-pound Matt Williams and 6-foot-8-inches, 260-pound Brian Morris signed their letters of intent.
Of Williams, who averaged 27 points per game as a senior at Trinity Christian Academy, Tubbs said, “He is a really good shooter who will stretch the opposing defenses.”
Williams follows his mother, Claire Morris-Williams, and his grandfather, Max, as the latest in his family to play basketball for SMU. In fact, Max was first-team All-Southwest Conference in 1959 and 1960.
Morris, a power forward out of Portland, Oregon, poured in 16 points per game while grabbing 12 rebounds for Jefferson High School.
Before that, 7-foot-1-inch, 200-pound Bamba Fall and 6-foot, 180-pound Dez Willingham signed on as newcomers for the 2005-06 season.
Before playing his freshman season at Kansas State, Willingham played in the metroplex at DeSoto High School.
This fall’s set of new faces will join an already powerful group of young players who proved themselves on the court last season.
Freshmen Jon Killen, Ike Ofoegbu, Paulius Ritter and Derrick Roberts combined to score over 10 points per game while collecting a total of 91 assists and 54 steals.
The signing of Epps is just the latest highlight on what already appears to be a strong future for the Mustangs.
