After losing six seniors from the roster after last seasons run to the Sweet 16, the Fort Lewis College mens basketball team will look to reload through recruiting, starting with Colorados Mr. Basketball in Class 3A, Jared Smith.
FLC also signed Marcus Ayala, Kevin Flohr, Cade Kloster, Matt Mazarei, Christian Sacoman and Kody Salcido this offseason.
The Skyhawks, a school-record 24-win team a season ago, bid farewell to seniors Kyle Behrens, Connor Drumm, Tayler Faust, David Kanyinda, DeAndre Lansdowne and Daniel Steffensen.
FLCs recruits will be expected to step in and help fill the gaps.
Smith comes in as perhaps the most heralded, earning top statewide honors for his efforts at Kent Denver, where he also earned Metro League Player of the Year accolades. In guiding the Sun Devils to the 3A quarterfinals, the 6-4 Smith averaged 19 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists per game, and he was a first-team all-state choice by The Denver Post.
Jared has a great work ethic and has improved each year, culminating into (becoming) 3A Mr. Basketball this year, FLC mens basketball coach Bob Hofman said in a news release to The Durango Herald.
Ayala, a Phoenix native, joins the Skyhawks from Central Lakes Community College in Brainerd, Minn. The 6-0 guard helped the Red Raiders to a 26-3 record in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference the last two seasons and a 48-8 overall mark. He had 827 points, 246 assists and 171 steals.
Mazarei is a 5-10 guard from Thousand Oaks, Calif. He played two seasons at Moorpark College in Ventura County, Calif., earning an All-Western State Conference first-team selection after averaging 11.5 points, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game as a sophomore.
Kloster is a 6-4 guard from Longmont High School, where he started three years and helped the Trojans into the state quarterfinals each year, including a state semifinal appearance as a junior. Hes the schools all-time leading scorer with 1,394 points, and he averaged 22.8 points per game as a senior.
Flohr, too, is from Colorado. He played high school basketball at Glenwood Springs.
Salcido comes to FLC from Sandia Prep in Albuquerque, where the 6-6 forward averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Sun Devils as a senior. Hes the schools all-time leader in points (1,826), rebounds (10,046) and blocked shots (193), and he helped the Sun Devils to the New Mexico 3A state championship game his last two seasons.
Sacoman, a 6-2 guard, averaged 14 points per game and connected on 43 percent of his 3s, hitting 60 3s as a freshman, for Briercrest College in Caronport, Saskatchewan.
While at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, Sacoman was a first team all-state and all-metro selection by both the coaches and The Albuquerque Journal, averaging 17 points per game as a senior. He holds the school record for career 3s (141) and single-season 3s (63).
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
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