April 26, 2005
The Arizona State men's basketball program has signed College of Southerrn Idaho product and Brazil native Bruno Claudino in the spring signing period, head coach Rob Evans announced Tuesday.
Claudino entered this year ranked as the fifth-best power forward in the junior college ranks by Van Coleman of Lindy's College Basketball but dislocated his ankle early in the year which limited his playing time. The 6-8, 215-pound forward posted a season-high 18 points in the first game of the year and played in 28 contests, starting in 14, for College of Southern Idaho, which was 33-3 in 2004-2005. He averaged 14.2 minutes and shot 51.8 percent (57-of-110) from the floor and averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds for head coach Barret Peery.
"Bruno has had two injuries which have prevented him from playing at full-strength for the better part of two seasons, but everyone knows what kind of impact he can make," says Rob Evans. "He has good size and can shoot the ball well and played in a great junior college system. That will help him as he makes the transition to Division I basketball. Several major colleges wanted him and we are happy he picked Arizona State."
In his sophomore year, Claudino broke his hand but played in 23 games as the Golden Eagles went 24-11.
Claudino will join a fall signing class that included Sylvester Seay (Winchendon School (Mass.)/San Bernadino, Calif.), Seketoure Henry (Lynwood High School/Lynwood, Calif.), and Jeff Pendergraph (Etiwanda High School/Etiwanda, Calif.).
Ike Diogu, the 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year and a consensus second-team All-American this past season, has declared for the NBA Draft but has indicated he will not hire an agent and has until June 21 to make a final decision on his status. Besides Diogu, ASU is scheduled to return six lettermen from last year's 18-win team, including seniors Tyrone Jackson and Allen Morill. Juniors on the 2005-06 roster are expected to be Serge Angounou, Kevin Kruger and Bryson Krueger along with sophomore Craig Austin.
ASU has had recent success during the spring signing period recently as Jackson and Krueger were both spring signees in 2004. Other recent spring signees include Steve Moore (2003), Jamal Hill (2002) and Curtis Millage (2001).
Krueger shot 40-of-92 (.435) from the three-point stripe this past year and started 27 games. Moore finished his career with 110 three-pointers, the most by any two-year player in ASU history.
2005 Arizona State Men's Basketball Spring Signee Bruno Claudino F 6-8/215 College of Southern Idaho/ Sao Paulo, Brazil2004 Arizona State Men's Basketball Fall Signees Seketoure Henry G 6-3/175 Lynwood H.S./Lynwood, Calif. Jeff Pendergraph F 6-9/225 Etiwanda H.S./Etiwanda, Calif. Sylvester Seay F 6-9/200 Winchendon School (Mass.)/San Bernardino, Calif.