April 19, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's basketball team announced the signing of junior college transfer Alex Kargbo from San Jose, Calif. (De Anza College) to a national letter of intent, Head Coach Dick Davey announced. Kargbo, a 6-2 guard, will join the Bronco men's basketball team when classes begin next fall and will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Santa Clara has allocated four of its five of its available scholarships during the 2001-2002 signing period and expects to sign one more player this spring. During the fall signing period, the Broncos signed three freshmen: Travis Niesen (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Brandon Rohe (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and James Romey (Winnetka, Ill.) to national letters of intent. The spring letter of intent signing period for basketball began April 10.
"Alex should have a chance to have an immediate impact on our basketball program," said Davey, who owns the most wins of any active coach in the West Coast Conference. "He is a very athletic player who will help on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. I think he will integrate pretty quickly into our program.
"Despite his size, Alex has played every position from point guard to the four in the last two seasons and really reminds me in a lot of ways of (former Bronco) Lloyd Pierce. He is very versatile in terms of his athletic ability and experience. De Anza coach Mike Riley has done a great job in preparing Alex for Division I basketball."
Kargbo, a 1999 graduate of Leigh High School in San Jose, played two full seasons at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif. for Coach Riley. The 6-2 guard helped De Anza to a 23-10 record last season, averaging 19.8 points per game, including a career-best of 41 points in a single game. He shot .523 from the field, averaged 3.0 steals per game and connected on .461 from beyond the three-point stripe, which ranked 11th in the state. He was an honorable mention all-state selection and a first-team all-South Coast Conference honoree. As a prep, Kargbo averaged 10 points and five assists per game and shot 59 percent from beyond the three-point stripe at Leigh.