April 26, 2004

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Marvett McDonald, regarded as one of the top junior college backcourt prospects in the country, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at UAB, announced Blazer head coach Mike Anderson. McDonald becomes the third and final signee in the 2004 recruiting class.

"I am very excited about signing a great kid like Marvett," said Anderson. "Marvett's two biggest keys are his experience and he knows how to win. He comes from a program that has won two national championships, and he played an important part in each. He is going to give us a combo guard who can score, handle the ball and play defense."

McDonald comes to UAB from Southeastern (Iowa) Community College where he was a starting member of the two-time NJCAA National Champions. During his two years at SCC, McDonald led his team to a 69-5 record and a perfect 8-0 in the national tournament.

This past season, McDonald led his team to a 32-4 overall record and the second straight NJCAA national crown. During the season, the Memphis, Tenn. native averaged 13.4 points, 3.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest. He also shot 44 percent from the field and 38 percent from behind the arc. McDonald also earned honorable mention all-region accolades and was named to the NJCAA All-tournament team in 2004.

As one of the co-captains at SCC this past season, McDonald drained 82 three-pointers and his 157 career three-pointers rank second in school history. McDonald connected on nine three-pointers in a game during the season, and hit for six three-pointers on two other occasions.

McDonald attended Northside High School in Memphis where he averaged 20.6 points per contest and was named to the All-Metro team according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

McDonald joins Frank Holmes, also from Memphis, Tenn., as the other signee to the UAB basketball program in the spring. Holmes, a 6-9, 210-pound forward, was a four-year letterwinner at Fayette-Ware High School in Somerville, Tenn. He averaged 17 points and 12 boards as a senior, while leading his team to the Class AA sectionals in the Tennessee state tournament.

Another signee, Paul Delaney, joined UAB during the early signing period. Delaney played at Chamblee (Ga.) High School under head coach Caesar Burgess. Last season at Chamblee, Delaney averaged 21.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per contest, leading his team to the Class AAAA quarterfinals.

"I am very excited about this recruiting class," said Anderson. "I think we have added some guys who fit into what we are doing at UAB. The most important thing is all of these guys want to be Blazers, and we are looking forward to them joining our basketball family."