Nov. 14, 2001
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's basketball team announced the signing of three high school seniors to a national letters of intent, announced Head Coach Dick Davey. Travis Niesen from Mission Viejo, Calif., Brandon Rohe from San Juan Capistrano, Calif. and James Romey from Winnetka, Ill. will join the Bronco men's basketball team when classes begin next fall.
Santa Clara has allocated three of its five available scholarships during the 2000-2001 signing period but is not expected to sign any additional student-athletes during the early signing period. The early signing period began today and runs through Wednesday, Nov. 21. The spring letter of intent signing period for basketball is April 10 through May 14.
"Like most coaches across the country, we are really pleased with our recruiting class this fall," said Davey. " I think the basketball intelligence level of this class is really high. They are all from good high school programs and I have a lot of respect for their high school coaches. All three have passion for the game and a keen understanding of work ethic and what it is going to take to be successful on the college level.
"I think all three players have good shooting skills, which was a high priority for us going into this year's recruiting process. Signing perimeter players, for us, was a high priority in addition to looking to add some good shooters."
Niesen (pronounced NEE-sen) is a left-handed 6-7 forward from Mission Viejo High School, where he played for Jeff Cunningham. He was an all-CIF and all-Orange County selection as a junior and is a three-time all-South Coast League honoree. He played in the Best of the Best all-star game twice at the West Coast All-Star Camp and is listed as one of the top-10 forwards in the West by Prep West Hoops. He is a four-year varsity letterwinner who averaged 20.3 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior. His parents are Jeff and Debbie Niesen.
"Travis is a physical, hard-nosed player who also is a good shooter from the outside," said Davey. "I like his toughness and experience. He is a solid player who has a little different profile than anybody we have on our team right now. He's a strong player who can play a lot of different places on the floor."
Rohe (pronounced ROW-eee) is a 6-4 guard from Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he played for Jerry DeBusk. His brother, Jake, is a junior forward on the basketball team at Cornell University. Rohe averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a junior, is a three-year varsity starter and has led his team to a 75-12 record the last three seasons. He was a second-team all-league selection as a junior and was listed as an honorable mention preseason All-America by Street & Smith's Magazine. His parents are Bob and Beth Rohe.
"Brandon is a great shooter who has good range and he is athletic," said Davey. "He is going to be able to compete at the college level fairly quickly because of his athleticism. One of his assets is that his high school coach is one of the best in the country and has done a great job preparing him with the fundamentals of the game and what it takes to succeed."
Romey (pronounced ROW-mee) is a 6-3 guard from New Trier High School, where he played for Rick Malnati. A three-year starter, he averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as a junior and was named to the Chicagoland all-area team as well as athlete of the week by the Chicago Tribune. He was a member of the Illinois Warriors summer league team, is a starting pitcher on New Trier's high school team and was a prep teammate of college basketball players Matt Lottich of Stanford and Todd Townsend of Marquette. His parents are Jim and Blanche Romey, both former Santa Clara basketball players.
"James is a really smart basketball player with good skills," said Davey. "He is a good shooter and ballhandler who understands how to play. He can play both the point or shooting guard position and he'll have a good chance to play right away."
