Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball Signs Three in Fall Signing Period
11/28/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University men's basketball coach Bruce Weber announced the signing of three players Wednesday during the fall signing period.
The Salukis received signed letters of intent from forward Blake Schoen and guards Ryan Walker and Bryan Turner.
Schoen (6-5, 200) averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists during his junior season at Benton Central High School in Oxford, Ind., and was one of 180 high school players selected to participate in the Nike All-American Camp last summer. He picked Southern Illinois over Miami (Fla.), Central Florida, Butler, Bowling Green, Ball State, Evansville and Eastern Illinois. He was also a highly recruited safety in football.
"Blake is a hard-nosed type of player," Weber said. "He'll bring a competitive, physical nature to our team. I see him as a combo-forward. He can score points near the basket but also has the skills to go outside."
Walker (6-3, 190) averaged 17.0 ppg at Galesburg High School in Galesburg, Ill. and compares favorably to current Saluki Kent Williams, according to Weber.
"He moves well without the ball and is a good offensive threat," Weber said. "He can slash to the hoop as well as shoot the three. We thought we got a little bit of a sleeper in Ryan because he moved to Galesburg last year from North Carolina and didn't get a lot of exposure."
Walker, whose father played basketball at Wake Forest, said he chose SIU over Furman, UNC-Wilmington and Bradley.
Turner (6-1, 180) averaged 5.0 apg last year in his freshman season at Mineral Area Junior College (Mo.) to lead the conference. He also averaged averaged 9.0 ppg and led his team to a 19-13 record. Turner, who was the all-time leading scorer at Beaumont High School (Mo.) chose SIU over Long Beach State
Southern Illinois has one remaining scholarship to offer and will attempt to use it on a frontcourt player in the spring, Weber said. The Salukis currently are using 12 of their 13 scholarships and have three seniors on this year's team, Marcus Belcher, Tyrese Buie and Rolan Roberts.
