The Oregon men’s basketball team bolstered its incoming recruiting class on Wednesday when junior college transfer guard Devon Branch faxed his official letter of intent to register.@@http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-04-09/sports/bal-former-aberdeen-guard-devon-branch-commits-to-oregon-20120408_1_oregon-aberdeen-star-junior-college@@
Branch, a 21-year-old junior from Aberdeen, Md., played his first two collegiate seasons at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., and comes off a sophomore season that saw him average 20.4 points per game. At 6’5″ and 175 pounds, Branch showed glimpses of a promising all-around offensive game, shooting 51 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point land and 80 percent at the free-throw line. He also averaged 3.4 assists and 2 steals per game in 29 games as a sophomore.@@http://blog.oregonlive.com/ducks/2012/04/oregon_lands_shooting_guard_de.html@@
Though Wednesday was National Signing Day for recruits, Branch was the only new addition to the Ducks. Other recruits, including point guard Dominic Artis, small forward Damyean Dotson and power forward Ben Carter, committed to the Ducks earlier in the school year.@@http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/67266/dominic-artis, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Damyean-Dotson-120346, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Ben-Carter-119725@@
Oregon remains in the running for a few other talented recruits, including the nation’s top power forward in Anthony Bennett. As of Wednesday, the McDonald’s All-American was deciding between Florida, Kentucky, Washington, UNLV and Oregon. ESPN four-star center Christopher Obekpa and shooting guard Torian Graham are also considering the Ducks.@@http://blog.oregonlive.com/ducks/2012/03/finishing_oregons_2012_hoops_c.html@@