Pirates Sign Two For The Class Of 2015
November 13, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- Kentrell Barkley (Durham, N.C./Northern Durham H.S.) and Clarence Williams (Tallahassee, Fla./Trinity Valley C.C.) have each signed a National Letter of Intent with East Carolina University, head men's basketball coach Jeff Lebo announced Thursday. The duo will join the team for the 2015-16 campaign.
"We're very excited about adding both young men to our basketball program," Lebo said. " Both will add some athleticism and toughness to our team. Kentrell is a guy that's a winner. He's played on some terrific high school teams and he's used to winning. He has the ability to play a lot of different positions for us with an incredible mental and physical toughness that we'll need in our league.
"Clarence Williams has a terrific upside," Lebo continued. "He can block shots, he can run, he's got skills to shoot the ball from the perimeter and also score inside for us."
A 6-foot-5, 180-pound small forward, Barkley led Northern Durham to the third round of the 2014 N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs with an overall record of 26-3. He is ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the state and 97th in the nation by Phenom Hoops Report. As a junior Barkley was named third-team all-state by the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) and PAC-6 Co-Player-of-the-Year as he helped the Knights claim the conference crown. He also led his AAU squad, Team Loaded (Va.), to a pair of tournament titles over summer, winning the NY2LA and Big Shots tournament championships and was named MVP of both events. Before joining Team Loaded, coached by Ty White, he played on the AAU circuit under coach Rick Phillips of Durham.
Williams is a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward for the nation's No. 2 ranked junior college program. He currently leads the team in rebounding and ranks fifth in scoring. As a freshman he helped TVCC (Texas) compile a 29-7 record and advance to the quarterfinals of the national championship tournament. Before enrolling at TVCC, Williams attended Druid Hills High School in Atlanta, where he averaged nearly 16 points and 10 rebounds per game as senior.
East Carolina opens the 2014-15 campaign - its first in the American Athletic Conference - Friday night, Nov. 14, against N.C. Wesleyan. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
