Urbana University men’s basketball coach Rob Summers announced Friday six additions to next year’s roster, including four junior college transfers and two freshmen.
Malik Thurman (Dayton, Ohio/Edison CC), Jimmy Weinke (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central HS), Andy Marwede (Alpena, Mich./Alpena CC), Dalton Payton (Byron, Ill./Rock Valley CC), Deangalo Gates (Dayton, Ohio/Sinclair CC) and Ethan Snapp (Newport, Ky./Newport HS) will attend Urbana University for the 2016-17 academic season.
Five of the six newcomers play the guard position.
“We’re very excited to welcome this group to Urbana University,” Summers said. “We focused on adding passionate, athletic and great character-type guys, along with playing experience at the junior college level. All of these guys will add tremendous scoring ability and depth to our lineup, and we look forward to helping them grow on and off the court.”
Thurman, a 6-foot-2 guard, adds immediate scoring help for the Blue Knights after pouring in over 1,000 points at Edison. On the court, he earned First Team All-OCCAC honors by averaging 19.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. He scored 20-plus points in 17 games during the 2015-16 campaign.
Weinke is also listed as a 6-foot-2 guard and adds a versatile skillset for the Blue Knights. As a senior at Franklin Central, he averaged 12.2 points, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Weinke played three years on the varsity squad and shot 43 percent from three-point range in 2015-16.
Marwede will add size and experience to the UU roster as a 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward. On the court, he averaged a double-double at Alpena and ranked among the nation’s leaders with 21.5 points (11th) and 11.8 boards (fifth) per game. Marwede also ranked second in the country in points per 40 minutes with 80.6.
Payton, a 6-foot-6 guard, brings a rare combination of size and passing skill which was a high priority for Summers. At Rock Valley, he played all 36 games in 2015-16 and ranked 28th nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5. Payton can also shoot the rock. He shot nearly 50 percent from the floor (48.8) and hit 39 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 9.8 points per contest.
Gates, another 6-foot-2 guard, enters the program after helping Sinclair capture a conference championship and national tournament appearance. He averaged 11.0 points, 5.8 boards and 3.7 assists on a squad that scored over 90 points per game. He also ranked just ahead of Payton nationally with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Snapp, a 6-foot-1 guard, joins UU after a standout career playing under his father Rod Snapp at Newport High School. Snapp scored over 1,700 career points for the Wildcats, averaging 19.0 points and six assists per game as a senior in 2015-16. He was a three-time Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association all-star selection and led his team to three regional tournament appearances.
The Blue Knights are expected to return eight letterwinners in 2016-17, including the top two scorers in junior Carlas Jackson (17.6 ppg) and sophomore Jahmere Howze (15.5 ppg). Other key returners include sophomore Austin Adams (9.2 ppg), junior Matt Csuhran (7.9 ppg), sophomore Colin Curran (5.6 ppg), sophomore Justin Johnson (3.9 ppg), sophomore Demetrius Carr (3.3 ppg) and senior Aarmanni Garnett (2.1 ppg).
