Youngstown State men's basketball coach Jerry Slocum announced on Friday the National Letter of Intent signing of junior college players Dallas Blocker, Kelvin Bright and DeAndre Mays.
    All three players will enter the program as juniors this fall after previously competing at the junior college level.
    Blocker is a 6-9, 225-pound forward from Cloud County Community College, Bright is a 6-3, 180-pound guard from Hagerstown Community College and Mays is a 6-1, 185-pound guard from Hill College.

    Slocum said all three players bring strong credentials with them to the YSU program.
    "Dallas brings great size that is needed to our interior play. Kelvin is a great scorer and will add to our offensive game. DeAndre has great leadership, is a great defender and has a strong all-around offensive game at the point guard position," Slocum said.

    Blocker averaged seven points and five rebounds a game last season at Cloud County. He helped the Thunderbirds to a 21-12 overall mark and an appearance in the Region VI semifinals. As a sophomore he averaged 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as the T-Birds finished 21-12. In those 33 games he also had 46 steals, 45 assists and 28 blocks.

    A native of Topeka, Kan., he was a third-team Class 5A selection at Seaman High School as a senior. He was a first-team All-Centennial League pick while earning second-team all-city honors. As a junior, he helped lead Seaman High School to its first state tournament appearance in 23 years.
    "I loved the atmosphere during my visit to Youngstown State," Blocker said. "The coaches were really good and they are people who will be able to tell me what I need to do to improve my game. They told me my best basketball is ahead of me and I agreed with that."

    Bright, earned Honorable-Mention NJCAA All-America honors last year at Hagerstown. He ranked sixth in the nation averaging 24.2 points per contest. Bright scored more than 20 points on 21 occasions and had six 30-point performances for the Hawks. He was named the NJCAA Division I National Player of the Week on Jan. 16 following a 38-point performance in a loss to Prince George's CC.

    A native of Silver Spring, Md., he helped lead Blake High School to the Maryland Class 4A State Championship Game his senior year. As a senior, he averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. For his efforts he was named the All-Metro Honorable-Mention Team by the Washington Post.
    "Coming to Hagerstown this past year I wanted to make sure that I was going to transfer to a place that I would be comfortable with and make a big contribution," Bright said. "I thought YSU was a perfect fit in both of those regards."

    Mays was a second-team All-North Texas Conference pick last year at Hill College. He averaged 13.1 points and 4.5 assists per game for the Rebels. Included in his total was a triple-double performance against SWCC. He joined the program after spending a season at Navarro Community College.
    A native of Dallas, Texas, he was a two-time first-team all-district selection at Samuell High School.
    "The coaching staff was unbelievable," Mays said. "They have a great environment there and the campus was real nice. I know I have a chance to come in and play right away which was a big factor as well."

    The trio of signees joins Villa-Angela St. Joseph High School guard Ashen Ward, who inked his National Letter of Intent in November.
    "With these four recruits I'm very excited about where the program is headed," Slocum said. "These are not only solid basketball players, but solid student-athletes as well."