Tide Signs JUCO All-American Point Guard Anthony Brock
4/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 25, 2008
TUSCALOOSA - Anthony Brock, a 5-9 point guard who has played the past two seasons at Itawamba (Miss.) Community College, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend school and play basketball at the University of Alabama.
"Anthony is a very good point guard," said Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried. "He has shot the ball extremely well, handles the ball well and can run a team. I like the fact that he is a tough competitor and winning is important to him. He finds a way to help his team win."
Brock is a native of Little Rock, Ark., where he graduated from McClellan High School.
Playing in 34 games this past season at Itawamba, Brock averaged 18.5 points, 4.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 steals and averaged nearly three 3-point shots made per game. As a freshman in 2006-07 he played in 33 games and averaged 14.1 points. Led by Brock, Itawamba finished 30-4 this past season and 27-6 in 2007. Itawamba was ranked No. 5 in the nation when it went into the 2008 NJCAA tournament.
Brock was named National Junior College Athletic Association All-American, 2nd Team in 2008. His 36 points in a game against Copiah-Lincoln led to Itawamba winning its first state championship in 40 years in the Mississippi Association of Community Junior Colleges Tournament. Brock went 10 of 11 at the free throw line in that win. He was the Region 23 Player of the Year and was selected to compete as a member of the North Team in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College All-Star Basketball game in early April.
Brock was a 47.3% (86-182) 3-point shooter this past season, shot 48% (196-408) from the field and 76.7% (151-197) at the free throw line. He scored 1,073 points and averaged 4.5 assists in 67 career games at Itawamba. He started in every game he played in junior college.
Gottfried signed three high school players during the November 2007 signing period. That trio included 2008 McDonald's All-American JaMychal Green, a 6-foot-9 center/forward from Montgomery. Green was voted the 2008 Mr. Basketball in the State of Alabama by the Alabama Sportswriter's Association and led St. Jude to the Class 1A state championship. In early July Green has been invited to participate in the USA Basketball tryouts for the USA's 2008 U18 FIBA American Championship Team that will compete in Argentina. Andrew Steele, a 6-foot-3 guard from Birmingham's John Carroll Catholic also signed with Alabama and had a senior season that included being named the Class 5A Player of the Year. Among his accolades was his selection to compete for the state in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game. And Alabama signed out of the state of Georgia Tony Mitchell, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Swainsboro, Ga., who averaged 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks a game his senior year and was named the Class AA Player of the Year and the region Player of the Year in addition to being selected to Georgia's 2008 North-South All-Star game squad.
