Victor Valley's Gordon headed to UCR
UC Riverside Men's Basketball Coach Jim Wooldridge announced today that two student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Highlanders next season: Dwight Gordon, a 6-2 guard from Victory Valley Junior College (Victorville, CA) and Jessee Hazely, a 6-7 forward/center from Santa Margarita High School.
"We're excited about adding Dwight and Jessee to our program," said Wooldridge. "We wanted to add a scoring perimeter player to next year's team, and Dwight is considered one of the better scoring guards in the state of California.
"We also set our sights on bringing in a young big man. Jessee has proven himself to be one of the more talented and versatile bigs in the high school ranks in the state, and comes out of a very successful program. We think both of these players have bright futures ahead of them at UC Riverside."
Gordon is a two-time All-Conference honoree who averaged 21.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists as a sophomore at Victor Valley. He also connected on 57 percent of his field goal attempts, 36 percent of his three-pointers and 72 percent from the free throw line in earning First-Team All-State honors
In the final game of the 2008-09 season, he poured in 41 points on 14 of 18 shooting including 5 of 6 from three point range. The former Los Osos HS standout also led the Foothills Conference in scoring (21.1), rebounding (8.5), made free throws (187) and free throw attempts (261).
Hazely was a First-Team All-CIF Division III-AA performer as a senior at Santa Margarita High School after averaging a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double and leading the Eagles to the CIF-SS Division III-AA championship game.
The McDonalds All-America nominee averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore at Irvine Northwood High School before transferring to Santa Margarita where he helped the Eagles to a state title his junior year.
"We're excited about adding Dwight and Jessee to our program," said Wooldridge. "We wanted to add a scoring perimeter player to next year's team, and Dwight is considered one of the better scoring guards in the state of California.
"We also set our sights on bringing in a young big man. Jessee has proven himself to be one of the more talented and versatile bigs in the high school ranks in the state, and comes out of a very successful program. We think both of these players have bright futures ahead of them at UC Riverside."
Gordon is a two-time All-Conference honoree who averaged 21.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists as a sophomore at Victor Valley. He also connected on 57 percent of his field goal attempts, 36 percent of his three-pointers and 72 percent from the free throw line in earning First-Team All-State honors
In the final game of the 2008-09 season, he poured in 41 points on 14 of 18 shooting including 5 of 6 from three point range. The former Los Osos HS standout also led the Foothills Conference in scoring (21.1), rebounding (8.5), made free throws (187) and free throw attempts (261).
Hazely was a First-Team All-CIF Division III-AA performer as a senior at Santa Margarita High School after averaging a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double and leading the Eagles to the CIF-SS Division III-AA championship game.
The McDonalds All-America nominee averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore at Irvine Northwood High School before transferring to Santa Margarita where he helped the Eagles to a state title his junior year.
About Michelle
Michelle Gardner has been a staff writer for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 2002 and has covered the local college sports scene since 2004. She ventured West after working at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale for eight years and is a graduate of the University of Florida.
E-mail Michelle here.
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