The UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball program has signed a trio of outstanding high school basketball players to National Letters of Intent, first-year head coach Joe Pasternack announced Wednesday.
Forward Amadou Sow and guard Sékou Touré of Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, and forward Jay Nagle of Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville comprise Pasternack’s first early group of signees.
“I think these three young men represent what a true UCSB student-athlete should be,” Pasternack said. “They are excellent in the classroom and they are also elite high school basketball players. They are a perfect fit for our university.”
The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Sow should bolster the Gauchos frontcourt immediately.
“Amadou is an extremely talented student-athlete,” Pasternack said. “He’s been at Prolific Prep for the past four years and academically he’s really excelled. As a player, he’s real strong and can play the four or five. He is an elite rebounder and this past summer he played on the EYBL circuit with the Oakland Soldiers and went toe-to-toe with the best players in the country.
A native of Malil Sow averaged 14.8 points and 9.5 rebounds for a Prolific Prep team that went 29-3 in 2016-17 and thru five games this season, he is averaging 18.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots for the No. 6 team in the country. He was also recruited by Cal, Pitt, Wichita State, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon State.
Touré, an athletic 6-foot-4 guard, could also make immediate contributions. Like Sow, Touré was a key member of the powerful Oakland Soldiers. He averaged 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 56.4% in 24 games during the EYBL schedule. The native of Guinea is averaging 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game in the first five games for Prolific Prep.
“Sekou is a 6-5 wing who is an elite defender and a really, really good athlete who gets his hands on so many balls,” Pasternack said. “He’s a complete player. A rebounder, defender, driver and he is developing his three-point shot and I think, by his freshman year, he’ll be a knockdown three-point shooter. Sekou is also an excellent student and fits perfectly at UCSB.”
Nagle is a 6-foot-8 sharpshooter who has gotten better and better throughout his high school career.
“Jay Nagle is a young man who has blossomed late,” Pasternack said. “He’s a 6-foot-8 forward who can shoot the ball as well anyone we currently have on our team.”
Nagle averaged 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while leading Will C. Wood High School to a 21-7 overall record and a 9-1 league mark. Perhaps his most intriguing statistic is that of his 102 field goals, 88 were from beyond three-point territory. In all, Nagle made 43.1% from outside the arc during the 2016-17 season.
In addition to the three early signees, the Gauchos will add point guard Devearl Ramsey, a 5-foot-10 transfer from Nevada, and off-guard Zack Moore, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Seattle University.