May 1, 2008

(San Francisco) - Dontae Bryant, a 6-2 point guard from Eastern Arizona College has signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to join the University of San Francisco basketball team for the 2008-09 season as announced today by head coach Rex Walters. Bryant ranked seventh among national junior college leaders in assists (7.9) and the floor general lifted the Monsters into the 2008 NJCAA National Tournament and the school's best record since 1957.

Walters welcomes the opportunity to coach a solid guard with good instincts and court awareness.

"I'm really excited about Dontae joining the Dons," Walters said. "He's a tough, hard-nosed point guard who has come from winning programs at both high school and junior college. He's going to be a very good player for us. He can defend, he gets people involved and players enjoy playing with him. I'm looking forward to coaching him and helping him take his game to a higher level."

Bryant enjoyed a fine sophomore season at EAC and earned second team All-NJCAA Region I and All-ACCAC honors, averaging 8.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game. In his final year in Thatcher, Bryant recorded three triple-double performances highlighted by a season-high 26-point, 11-rebound, 13-assist effort against Glendale Community College (2/23/08). Eastern finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 30-6 record and posted a fifth place showing in the NJCAA Championship.

In 32 games for the Monsters, Bryant dished out 10 or more assists in 11 games and established his season-best of 13 three times. Bryant led the team in assists (7.9) and steals (2.8) and was second in rebounds (5.7).