Golden Flashes Land Three to Start Spring Signing Period
4/14/2016 3:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio — Kent State men's basketball head coach Rob Senderoff announced the signing of Adonis De La Rosa (Williston State College), Jerrelle DeBerry (Indian Hills C.C.) and Leo Edwards (Santa Fe College) on Thursday (April 14). All three student-athletes will be eligible to compete for the Golden Flashes during the 2016-17 season.
"We are excited for Adonis, Jerrelle and Leo to join the Kent State family and look forward to them arriving on campus in the next few months," Senderoff said. "These three young men all have experience playing at the college level, and we expect them to help us at positions that we lost players from this past season."
While all three played at the junior college level this past winter, both De La Rosa and Edwards previously spent at least one season at a NCAA Division I program.
At 7'0" and 280 pounds, De La Rosa will be one of the largest players to ever wear Blue and Gold. The center was rated as a three-star recruit by ESPN and originally signed with St. John's, but was limited to practices during the 2014-15 season. This past season, De La Rosa helped lead Williston State College to a 23-8 record and trip to the Region XIII semifinals. He averaged 11.1 points per game and converted 54-percent of his field goals while leading the Tetons with 7.6 rebounds per game and 10 double-doubles. Originally, from the Bronx, De La Rosa joins a long line of Golden Flashes from the state of New York. He played at Christ the King High School, which is the same school where 2016 senior Chris Ortiz played, and led the Royals to back-to-back city and state championships as a junior and senior.
"We are very excited to add Adonis to our program," Senderoff said. "He is going to bring tremendous size to our frontcourt, which is needed given the players we graduated. He comes from a great high school and junior college program and is accustomed to winning. We followed Adonis throughout his season at Williston State and believe he will make huge contributions to our program over the next three seasons."
DeBerry is a 6'4" guard from junior college powerhouse Indian Hills Community College. A two-time All-Region XI selection, he helped Indian Hills capture regular season and postseason regional championships each of the past two seasons. This past year, DeBerry led the Warriors in scoring (13.8 ppg), free throws (125), free throw attempts (150) and free throw percentage (.833) while adding 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Over his two seasons at Indian Hills, he made 114 three-pointers and shot 47-percent from the three-point arc.
"Jerrelle comes from one of the best junior college programs in country, which is led by a great coach in Hank Plona. He is an elite shooter and also can create off the bounce and make plays for others. He has worked really, really hard to get himself to this point. He is a Kent State type of player and we are excited for him to add to our long line of perimeter players who have successfully transitioned from junior college."
Edwards is a 6'8" forward who earned All-Mid-Florida Conference honors at Santa Fe this past season. His 7.1 rebounds per game and 58-percent shooting led the way for the Saints. He averaged 12.2 points per game and recorded five double-doubles. Edwards spent the two previous seasons at Louisiana Tech, where he appeared in 20 games during the 2014-15 season after being redshirted in 2013-14. He was a teammate of rising sophomore guard Jaylin Walker on the Romulus High School state championship team in 2013.
"Leo is a player we think can contribute to our program for the next two years," said Senderoff. "He is really athletic and will really be able to help us in rebounding and scoring from the frontcourt positions. He has shown that he can play at the Division I level, which is always helpful as well."
The trio joins wing Mitch Peterson (Walsh Jesuit H.S.) and Danny Pippen (Detroit Allen Academy), who signed with Kent State during the fall early signing period, to make it five members of the 2016 signing class. Additionally, guard Des Ridenour, wing Rosel Hurley and forward Alonzo Walker are expected to make their on-court debut for the Flashes next season.
2016-17 Kent State Newcomers/Transfers
Adonis De La Rosa
C 7'0" 280
Bronx, N.Y. / Williston State College [N.D.]
Jerrelle DeBerry
G 6'5" 205
Milwaukee, Wis. / Indian Hills Community College [Iowa]
Leo Edwards
F 6'8" 235
Detroit, Mich. / Santa Fe College [Fla.]
Rosel Hurley **
G/F 6'5" 195
Shaker Heights, Ohio / Shaker Heights
Mitch Peterson
G/F 6'5" 190
Richfield, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit
Danny Pippen
F 6'8" 175
Detroit, Mich. / Allen Academy
Des Ridenour **
G 6'2" 185
Cleveland, Ohio / Duquesne
Alonzo Walker **
F 6'6" 180
Brampton, Ontario / Orangeville Prep
**Redshirted the 2015-16 season
