USU men’s basketball 2016-17 signing class brought to seven

Photo courtesy of Jared L. Miller

Tim Duryea, Utah State’s head men’s basketball coach, has recently announced the signing of Diogo Brito, bringing the 2016-17 signing class to seven.

Brito, a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Mountain Mission High School in Grundy, Virginia, will enter as a freshman with four years of eligibility.

“Diogo is a very skilled offensive player and understands the pick and roll offense very well,” Duryea said. “He is a good passer with good range and we are really impressed with his all-around offensive game.”

Brito has led Mountain Mission High School to a No. 5 state ranking and has international experience.

“Diogo is from Portugal and played on the national team on the under-18 team,” Pawel Mrozik, Brito’s high school coach at Mountain Mission, told the Herald Journal. “He was the leading scorer from the European Championships. His stats were pretty impressive.”

Brito has played for the Portugal national team since 2012 and averaged 17.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the U18 European Championships.

Brito will join the signing class along with two other guards. These include Sam Merrill, who will return from a LDS mission in Nicaragua, and four-star recruit Koby McEwen from Wasatch Academy. The rest of the recruits are likely centers, towering 6-foot-8-inches or over. These include Norbert Janicek from Snow College, Klay Stall from Basha High School, Daron Henson from Cathedral High School and Ngor Barnaba from Missouri State University-West Plains.

Janicek, a native of Drazkovce, Slovakia, also has some international experience to bring to Utah State. Janicek played with the U-18 National Team in Slovakia before moving to the Beehive State to play for Snow College.

“Utah State is a great program and I am really excited to play with and against the best,” Janicek said.