Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

Two all-state guards and an emerging frontcourt player from winning high school basketball programs signed a National Letter-of-Intent to enroll at San Jose State University and continue their men’s basketball careers this fall. Jean Prioleau, the Spartans head coach, made the announcement on Friday.

6-foot-9 forward Christian Anigwe from Desert Vista High in Phoenix, Arizona, 6-foot-4 guard Kaison Hammonds from ThunderRidge High in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and 6-foot-6 guard Seneca Knight from Northside High in Lafayette, Louisiana, are joining the Spartans.

“These three guys are versatile perimeter players. The two guards (Hammonds and Knight) can pass, dribble and shoot the ball. Seneca is a big guard. Kaison is a player that can make shots. He is another big guard at 6-foot-4,” says Prioleau, who is entering his second season at San Jose State. “Christian is very athletic. We needed another athletic big guy in the front line who is active.”

The three Spartan newcomers are coming from programs that won at least 44 games the last two seasons and have high-level athletic family bloodlines.

Knight was a first-team Class 4A all-state and first-team All-District 4-4A honoree as a senior for Northside High. Ranked by Gulf Coast Basketball as the No. 16 overall prospect and the No.1 scoring forward in state, Knight averaged 25.0 points a game his senior season. His dad, Seneca Knight, played college football at Grambling and professionally for the Arena League’s Grand Rapids (Michigan) team.

Hammonds was a two-time first-team selection by the Colorado High School Athletic Association. In his junior and senior seasons, ThunderRidge had a 49-5 win-loss record in the 5A/4A Continental League. He averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists as a junior and 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a senior. His dad, Tom Hammonds, starred at Georgia Tech and played 11 NBA seasons (1990-2001) for four teams.

Anigwe averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a game and shot 64.5 percent from the field last season at Desert Vista High. D1Nation.com ranked him as the No. 15 high school prospect in the state. His sister, Kristine Anigwe, a three-time honorable mention All-America basketball player and the 2016 USBWA National Freshman of the Year, will be a senior at the University of California in the 2018-19 season.

Knight, Hammonds and Anigwe now give Prioleau eight new players for the 2018-19 San Jose State team. Earlier, guard Zach Chappell of Capital Christian High in Sacramento; guard Brae Ivey, from Riverside City College; 6-foot-9 forward Craig LeCesne, a San Bernardino Valley College transfer who played as a freshman at Pepperdine University; 6-foot-10 Michael Steadman from City College of San Francisco; and 6-foot-11 Samuel Japhet-Mathias, a transfer from Wake Forest University, signed with the Spartans.

With one of the largest signing classes in recent San Jose State men’s basketball history, Prioleau expressed his appreciation for the teamwork by many campus departments and units throughout the recruiting process.

“As a new coaching staff, we leaned heavily on and learned quickly how much San Jose State department heads and staff members want to see us recruit the best possible players to be a part of our university and succeed in all aspects of college life and beyond. It all starts with Dr. (Mary A.) Papazian, our President, and Athletics Director Marie Tuite and their vision for our program,” concluded Prioleau.