June 5, 2003

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball coach Dylan Howard has announced the commitment of10 basketball players for the 2003-04 season. Highlighting the class are three point guards and five players that are 6-4 or better.

"This class addresses our biggest needs," said Howard. "We have added more rebounding and athleticism up front and have filled in at point guard with three extremely good point guards that can also play the two-guard. We also brought in a couple of combo guys that can play inside and out. It also helps that we got three hometown kids. It is always good when you can get the kids that can play out of your area."

Garrett Pool, a former point guard at Canyon Randall, is a transfer from Luther College in Iowa. He was the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference freshman of the year in 2002. He averaged 13.2 points and 5.2 assists per game.

James Peters, a 6-0 shooting guard, was the All-Big Country MVP and first-team all-district as a junior for Cooper High School. As a senior he was named second-team all-district and was named the Skyler Wilburn Inspirational Award Winner. He averaged 12.7 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Cougars.

He will be joined by Cooper teammate Zach Jones, a 6-5 forward. Jones was named team MVP, the 2003 All-Big Country MVP, first-team all-district and honorable mention all-region. He averaged 14 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

A third Cooper player will join the mix in Chris Gammage. A 6-4 post player, Gammage averaged six points and 10 rebounds per game last season.

Roman Bates is a 6-1 point guard from Allen High School that led the Metroplex in assists with 9.1 per game. He also averaged 9.5 points and 6.3 rebounds. He was named second-team all-district.

Another pair of teammates will join the Cowboys in the fall. Matt Brackett a 5-10 guard and Paul Richardson, a 6-4 forward, from Tarkington High School. Brackett was the MVP of district 22-3A averaging 19 points, five assists, five steals and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was also first-team all-district in football and second-team all-district in baseball while be named second-team academic all-state. Richardson was a first-team all-district selection, averaging 14 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Adam Fuller will give the Cowboys a presence in the middle at 6-6. He was the district MVP in 10-2A at Crawford High School. He was named first-team Super Centex and first-team all-district as a junior and senior.

Zach Pickleman is a 6-4 swingman from New Braunfels Canyon high school. He was first-team all-district and all-region after averaging 14 points and nine rebounds and two blocks per outing. He also hit 47 percent of his 3-point shots. He was voted one of the top 10 players in the Greater San Antonio area.

Barrett Abernathy a 5-11 guard from White Oak averaged 5.9 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per outing and posted a 3.7 GPA.

The signees will join Tanner Kudrna, who transferred from Montana State at midterm last year. HSU returns six players, including two starters, from its team that more than doubled its win total from two years ago.

Player	Ht.	Pos.	Hometown	Stats	Note
Barrett Abernathy	5-11	G	White Oak	5.9 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.3 rpg	3.7 GPA
Roman Bates	6-1	PG	Allen	9.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 9.1 apg	Led the Metroplex in assists
Adam Fuller	6-6	C	Crawford	14.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 3.1 bpg, 60% fg	District 10-2A MVP
Chris Gammage	6-4	F	Abilene Cooper	6 ppg, 10 rpg	Led the Cougars in rebounding
Zach Pickelman	6-4	SF	New Braunfels (Canyon)	14 ppg, 9 rpg, 47 3-Fg %	All-Greater San Antonio
Zach Jones	6-5	PF	Abilene Cooper	14 ppg, 9.1 rpg	2003 Big Country MVP
Paul Richardson	6-4	SF	Tarkington	14 ppg, 9.5 rpg	First-team all-district
Matt Brackett	5-10	PG	Tarkington	19 ppg, 5 apg, 5, spg, 5.2 rpg	District 22-3A MVP, All-District QB
Garrett Pool	5-7	PG	Canyon (Luther Coll.)	13.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.2, apg	2002 IIAC Fr. of the Year.
James Peters	6-0	SG	Abilene Cooper	12.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.0 apg	2002 Big Country MVP