Men's Basketball | October 5, 2024

MORROW, Ga. – Clayton State University men's basketball coach Vince Alexander welcomes nine newcomers to the team for the 2024-25 season.  Of those nine newcomers, seven are transfers and two are true freshman.  This is in addition to the seven returners that include Jamal Clyce, Christian Chambers, Marcus Harris, Eddie Page, Aaron Pitts, Mason Pierre, and Elijah Dates. 
 
THOUGHTS FROM COACH ALEXANDER
"I am excited to have these young men join our family", said Alexander." To this point, I have enjoyed coaching them, and I am encouraged by the great character they display.   Each of them possesses skills and talents that should bring a lot of excitement to the Loch this year."
 
TRANSFERS
The class of transfers is highlighted by DJ Wright.  Wright was a member of the Hampden-Sydney College men's basketball team that advanced to the DIII National Championship game last season. In his career as a Tiger, DJ played in 67 games and averaged 8 points a game and gathered 82 assists.  In addition, he shot 32% from beyond the arc and 36% from the field. Also at HSC, Wright was a four-time ODAC All-Academic team member and earned CSC Academic All-District his last two seasons. 
 
Lay Davis, Jojo Bell, and Yannis Woods follow Wright.  The trio of Laker transfers all played at South Georgia State College for former CSU men's basketball assistant Cory Baldwin.  All three newcomers were impactful for the Hawks last season.   Both Bell and Davis were GCAA All-Region honorable mention selections in the while Woods led the GCAA in field goal percentage shooting the ball 56.9% from the field.  Woods was also fifth in rebounds a game with 8.1.  In addition, Bell was fifth in the region averaging 15 points a game, while Lay was first in the conference and third in the region with 149 total rebounds. 
 
Matt Brown, Dashaun Joesph and Justin Evans round out the transfers for coach Alexander and the Lakers.  Brown transferred from Kennesaw State and played 10 games in a pair of seasons for the Owls.  Joseph transferred from Albany Tech and was third in the GCAA averaging 8.5 rebounds a game and was fourth in field goal percentage shooting the ball at a 55.7% clip.  Joseph was a second-team All-Region selection for Albany Tech last season.  While at Miami-Dade, Dashaun played in 26 games and scored 237 points and averaged 5.8 rebounds a game.  Evans, who transferred from South Georgia Tech, played in 55 games and averaged 3.78 points a game in two seasons.
 
FRESHMEN
The Lakers welcome a pair of freshmen in Tahai Morgan and Jamil Aleem.  Morgan was a stalwart in the back court for Lanier HS.  During his four years, Morgan was a three-time GHSA All-Region selection, a two-time GHSA All-Tournament Team selection and was a two-time Region Champion.  In addition, Tahai was voted the 2023-24 Outstanding Male Senior Athlete of the Year in Gwinnett County and was a Top 20 GHSA Point Guard.  Tahai knocked in his 1,000^th career point in his senior campaign.  A native of Atlanta, Aleem also comes to Morrow with a lot of success in high school.  While attending New Faith Christian Academy, Aleem led his team as they were ranked as the 8^th best team in the nation as a senior and was the Max Preps Player of the Year as a junior.  In addition, as a sophomore, Jamil was selected as an Underclassmen All-American. 
 
The Lakers open their season on November 8^th as they take on Tusculum University in the PBC/SAC Challenge hosted by Clayton State.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.  Please visit claytonstatesports.com for more information about the Laker men's basketball team all season long. Season Tickets are also still avaliable for purchase at the Clayton State Marketplace for 130 dollars.  
 
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