MEN’S BASKETBALL SIGNS JORDAN SALLEY AND RYAN OKWUDIBONYE
4/17/2012
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State men’s basketball program announced its third and fourth signees of the 2012-13 recruiting class with the inking of Santa Rosa Junior College’s Jordan Salley and New Mexico Junior College’s Ryan Okwudibonye. Both will enroll as juniors at Sacramento State in the fall of 2012.
JORDAN SALLEY
Salley, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound small/power forward from La Verne, Calif., played the last two years at Santa Rosa Junior College. Last season, Salley was one of three players to appear in all 32 games for a Santa Rosa squad that went 26-6 overall, won the Big 8 Conference championship with a 14-1 mark, and finished the season ranked second in the RPI among all California junior colleges. On a team that mostly relied on outside shooting (10.5 three-pointers made per game), Salley averaged 4.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots while shooting 55.0 percent (60-109) from the field. He missed most of his freshman season (2010-11) with a knee injury.
Salley originally committed to Montana State in 2010 after prepping at powerhouse La Verne Lutheran High School. He was an all-state selection his junior season after averaging 16.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.9 blocked shots and 1.4 steals per game and shooting 62.0 percent (202-326) from the field. He was named first team all-Arrowhead League during both his sophomore and junior years, and did not play his senior year because of a knee injury.
During his sophomore year, Salley averaged 10.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.7 blocked shots and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. During his final three seasons at La Verne Lutheran, the Trojans combined for an 81-29 overall record and a perfect 32-0 conference mark.
“Jordan is an extremely athletic and explosive player that can play both forward spots,” Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz said. “He was very good in the second half of last season at Santa Rosa Junior College, and it marked the first time since his junior year of high school he was fully healthy. It basically took two years to recover from his knee injury, and now he is as bouncy and athletic as ever.”
RYAN OKWUDIBONYE
A 6-foot-8, 230-pound center/power forward from Huntington Beach, Calif., Okwudibonye spent the last two seasons playing for New Mexico Junior College. He played in all 50 games during his two-year career, and was part of a 2011-12 Thunderbird team that went 23-9 overall, 10-4 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and made the school’s first appearance at the NJCAA Region V Tournament since the 1997-98 season. Last season, he started 21 of 32 games, and finished the year with averages of 4.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 43.8 percent (60-137) from the field. Okwudibonye was second on the team in rebounding, and third on the team in blocked shots.
As a freshman at New Mexico JC, he helped the team to a 19-9 overall record after averaging 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 58.1 percent (72-124) from the field.
Okwudibonye prepped at Huntington Beach’s Ocean View High School, where he was a two-year varsity starter and all-conference selection during his junior (2008-09) and senior (2009-10) seasons. During those two seasons, the Seahawks won a pair of Golden West Conference championships and combined for a two-year record of 56-13 overall and 19-0 in league. That included a CIF Southern Section Div. III title in 2008-09. As a senior, he averaged 8.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots per game while shooting 55.2 percent (122-221) from the field. During his junior season, Okwudibonye averaged 7.1 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent (100-180) from the floor.
“Ryan is a strong center/power forward that is physical and a very good post defender,” Katz said. “His combination of strength and quick feet defensively will allow him to guard multiple positions on the court. He’s a player we’ve followed over the last three years, and feel like his best offensive days are ahead of him.”
Salley and Okwudibonye join Ohlone College guard Mikh McKinney and Pleasant Grove High School guard Cody Demps as the four players that have signed with Sacramento State thus far.
JORDAN SALLEY
RYAN OKWUDIBONYE
