Basketball Tigers Signees Officially Now at Four; Jenkins and Reath From Lee College on Board
BATON ROUGE – Early Thursday evening, the LSU Athletic Department received and certified the recruiting papers for guard Branden Jenkins and forward Duop Reath of Lee College to join Coach Johnny Jones and the Tiger basketball team for the 2016-17 season.
Jenkins is from Maywood, Illinois, who averaged 9.5 points a game in his freshman season of 2014, sat out last year, and will play his sophomore season of junior college ball this year for the Baytown, Texas school. Reath, at 6-10, averaged 6.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as he spent his freshman season adjusting to American basketball.
Reath is rated among the top forwards in the 2015 JC class and the JC recruiting experts point to Jenkins versatility and explosiveness along with his on-ball defense.
“We are thrilled that both Branden and Duop are on board with LSU for the 2016-17 season,” said Coach Jones Thursday night. “Branden can play either guard spot and will be a great addition because of what he will bring defensively. He is an excellent on-ball defender. He has the ability to score in the open floor and is a great facilitator.
“Duop will bring a much-needed added dimension to our team at 6-10,” said Jones of Reath, from Mirabooka, Australia. “He has the ability to play inside with his back to the basket and can step out on the perimeter and face up. His rebounding and paint presence will allow him to impact our team in several ways that will be beneficial.”
The Lee College pair join Wayde Sims of Baton Rouge’s U-High and Kieran Hayward as signees whose papers have been approved by LSU Athletics so far in the early signing period for the Tiger Basketball team.