San Antonio – St. Mary’s University men’s basketball coach Jim Zeleznak announced on Friday the signing of Belpre, Ohio, native Nick Morey to a National Letter of Intent to join the Rattlers, starting with the 2007-08 academic year.

Morey, a 6’6″, 235 pound forward, comes to San Antonio after spending the last two years at Richland College in Dallas. While there last season, he was a first team All-Metro Athletic Conference pick last season and the runner-up for MAC Player of the Year honors. He also earned second team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American honors for his play last season. He played in the NJCAA Division II/III All-Star game, scoring 18 points, pulling down five rebounds, blocking three shots and making four steals. The 18 points was a game-high for the Maroon team and the second highest total in the game.

He averaged 17.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and hit on 49.3 percent of his shots from the field in 2006-07 for the Thunderducks. He helped the Thunderducks to a berth in the MAC postseason tournament, a 15-15 overall record and a 7-5 conference mark. As a freshman in 2005-06 he averaged 7.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and hit on 50.5 percent of his shots from the field. Off the court, he was a standout as well, earning a 3.6 GPA and serving as a member of Phi Theta Kappa.

Prior to attending Richland College Morey attended Belpre High School in Belpre, Ohio. He played for coach Joe Garrett, earning first team all-conference, third team all-state and conference MVP honors. He is the second leading scorer in school history and the all-time rebounds leader. He helped BHS to a state playoff appearance as a junior.

“We are very excited about Nick being a part of this year’s recruiting class,” Zeleznak said. “Nick is fundamentally sound and is a great fit for our offensive and defensive schemes. He is a strong player with his back to the basket with the ability to step out and shoot it facing the basket. There is no doubt that Nick will be a key ingredient to the success of our team over the next two years.”

The Rattlers finished the 2006-07 season with a 16-12 record, good for third in the Heartland Conference regular season standings.

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