Northwest Missouri State head men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum has announced the addition of four student-athletes to the 2014-15 roster.
The latest additions to the 2014-15 roster are Larry Fitzgerald (Milwaukee, Wisc.), Kyle Harrison (Overland Park, Kan.), Jared White (Desoto, Mo.) and Anthony Woods(Kansas City, Mo.). These four additions will join Vance Wentz (Leadwood, Kan.), Xavier Kurth (St. Joseph, Mo.) and Dray Starzl (Kearney, Mo.) who all signed with the Bearcats earlier this year.
“We are very excited about our class as a whole,” We continue to recruit high character kids and I feel we have done that with this class,” McCollum said. “I believe our teachers, fellow students, staff and fans will enjoy being around this group of young men. We will have a lot of work to do getting eight new guysacclimated with our program.”
Fitzgerald played the past two seasons at Butler County Community College. Last season, he started 31 games, averaging 11.9 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game. He also hit 41.5 percent (39-for-94) of his three point attempts. As a prep, Fitzgerald was a two time all-state and a three time all-league performer for Milwaukee Pius XI. He surpassed 1,000 career points during his senior season and was a participant in the Wisconsin WBCA All-Star game.
“Larry is a solid three-point shooter and has the chance to be a great offensive rebounder at our level,” said McCollum.” He plays extremely hard and we were very impressed with his energy and ability to communicate on the floor. He wants to win and will do whatever it takes to make his team better.”
Harrison helped Blue Valley Northwest to two state basketball championships, earning all-state honorable mention. He received All-EKL first team honors two years in a row. Harrison holds the record for all time career three-point field goals at Blue Valley Northwest. Harrison was also a first team all-state performer in football.
“Kyle is a competitor who is coming off back to back state titles in the largest class in Kansas,” said McCollum. “He is a very good shooter and has a very good feel for the game. Kyle adds to our freshman depth and we look forward to watching him grow.”
White was an all-region performer for coach Gene Bess at Three Rivers Community College. White graduated from Desoto High School where he received two all-state honors and four all-region honors. He was named conference MVP twice. He was a standout in football where he received all-state, all-conference, all-region and all-district honors during his career. Whitebegan his playing career at Division I Southeast Missouri State University.
“Jared is a tough and physical guard,” McCollum said. “His strength and athleticism makes him a tough match up. He can get to the basket and uses his strength to finish well around the basket. He comes from an athletic family and is extremely competitive.”
Woods appeared in 26 games last year during his only season at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb. He had four double-digit scoring contests as a senior. The point guard had a season-high 12 assists against Indian Hills CC on Jan. 29, 2014. Wood was an all-state performer and Suburban Conference MVP for Park Hill South High School. He was also named to the Missouri All-Starteam and was a first team all-conference selection.
“Anthony is very long and passes the ball extremely well,” McCollum said. “He has a chance to turn into a great defender with his length. His unselfishness and ability to make the right play jumped out at us when watching him play. He will have three years of eligibility after spending one year at Northeast CC.”
— Northwest Sports Information —