PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The first four signees of the 2014 University of Pikeville men’s basketball recruiting class are in and offer an immediate boost for a backcourt that lost three starting guards to graduation.
UPIKE head coach Kelly Wells announced the signing of Macari Brooks, a 6-3 junior from Chicago, 6-3 junior Jackson Hussey from Perth, Australia, Ben Vozzola, a 6-6 senior from Las Vegas and KK Simmons, a 6-3 junior from Marietta, Georgia.
Three of the student-athletes signed previously at the NCAA Div. I level, including Vozzola at San Diego and Cal State-Northridge, Simmons at UNC-Wilmington and Kent State and Brooks at DePaul, while Hussey is a junior-college transfer with international experience.
All four signees will play for the Bears in 2014-15.
Macari Brooks
A former signee at DePaul, Brooks joins UPIKE from Blinn (Texas) College. During the 2013-2014 season, Brooks averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Brooks was efficient as a sophomore as well, shooting 56 percent from the field. Out of high school, ESPN.com ranked Brooks as the 56th best shooting guard in the nation. He was also selected to the NeXt All-American Classic All-Star Game where he led his team in scoring.
Jackson Hussey
Hussey joins the Bears after a successful sophomore season at Northwest Kansas Technical College. Last season, Hussey averaged 9.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The versatile guard helped lead the Mavericks to a 20-13 record and the NJCAA Region VI semifinals. Hussey has also represented his country in international competition, competing with Australia in the 2011 U19 FIBA World Championship.
Ben Vozzola
Vozzola comes to Pikeville from Cal State-Northridge. As a junior, he averaged 2.8 points, 1.0 assist and 1.0 rebound per contest. Prior to CSUN and following a freshman campaign that began at San Diego, Vozzola starred at Cowley (Kan.) College. In 32 games as a junior, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds. In his last seven games, Vozzola lifted his scoring average to 15.1 points while shooting 44 percent from the 3-point line. As a high-school senior, Vozzola was named a Pangos All-American Top-20 player and was ranked as a top-40 shooting guard prospect by ESPN.com.
KK Simmons
As a sophomore at Kent State, Simmons averaged 4.4 points and 1.2 rebounds while appearing in 29 games. As a freshman, Simmons started 12 of 29 games for UNC-Wilmington, averaging 7.0 points, 1.9 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game. At Wheeler High School, Simmons won a 5A Georgia State Championship and helped lead the team to a 118-20 record in four years.
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