Trojans and Lady Trojans land hoops signing classes

Both the Troy Trojans and Lady Trojans basketball programs signed a number of high school and junior college basketball stars to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, April 15.

The Trojans landed 6-foot-9-inch forward Rory Pantophlet – a native of the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten – after a solid two-year stint at Tyler Junior College in Texas.

Pantophlet averaged 9.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in 2020 and shot 63.8 percent from the field as he earned NJCAA XIV All-Region honors.

“Rory is an extremely talented and athletic 6-foot-9-inch post player,” Troy coach Scott Cross said. “He runs like a deer, has great hands, sprints the floor and rebounds out of his area. He can score with either hand, has great feet and a blossoming skill set.”

Pantophlet’s Tyler Junior College teammate Kieffer Punter – a 6-foot-4-inch guard from New York City – also signed with Troy in this class.

Punter averaged 11.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 2020 and shot 46.1 percent from the three-point line as one of the top three-point shooters in the NJCAA. He also earned NJCAA XIV All-Region honors.

“Kieffer is a very smart basketball player that can really shoot the basketball,” Cross said. “He shot an amazing 46.1 percent from behind the arc last season, which was in the top-25 nationally.

“Kieffer can pass, dribble, shoot and will play on both sides of the ball. He is an extremely high character kid that fits my definition of an (‘Our Kinda Guy”). I believe Kieffer is the type of player that will just keep getting better and better because he is a gym rat and works so hard.”

Joining the JUCO signees are South Grand Prairie High standout Christian Turner – a 6-foot-7-inch forward from Grand Prairie, Tex. – who was Texas Class 6A, District 7 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

The big forward averaged 14.2 points and 5.5 rebounds as a high school senior and also earned Class 6A, District 7 Sophomore of the Year in 2018 and also earned both all-region and all-district honors in 2020.

“Christian is a power forward that can really stretch the defense with his three-point shooting,” Cross said. “Christian won Defensive Player of the Year in one of the toughest districts in the State of Texas.

“He played at South Grand Prairie for Coach Brandon Bennett, who is widely known as one of the best coaches in Texas because of his emphasis on defense and fundamentals of the game. Christian has a great feel for the game, can post up and is a great passer that can guard any position on the floor.”

Cross and his Trojans also signed 6-foot-2-inch guard De’Marquiese “Duke” Miles of Montgomery’s R.E. Lee High School, as well.

Miles was the Class 7A All-Metro Basketball Player of the Year in 2019 as he averaged 17.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.1 steals on his way to earning ASWA All-State honors.

“Duke helped Lee to a record-breaking season with a 33-1 record and a 7A State Championship,” Cross said. “Duke was selected as MVP of the state tournament and is a point guard that does it all. He can pass, dribble and shoot, but his defensive ability and competitiveness are the two things that make him so special.”

The 2020 Women’s Sun Belt Champion Lady Trojans just keep getting stronger as head coach Chanda Rigby landed a pair of big-time junior college signees in her class.

Junior college transfers Felmas Koranga and Dominique Camp join an already loaded recruiting class that already included five freshmen and another JUCO transfer that signed back in December. This eight-woman class of signees is Rigby’s largest signing class since taking over the program in 2012.

Koranga is quite possibly the highest rated recruit in the history of the Lady Trojan program and will become the first Kenyan-born female basketball player to play in Division I.

Koranga – born in Rift Valley, Kenya – is a 6-foot-1-inch forward that earned All-America honors at Tyler Junior College in Texas as she averaged 19 points and 13.1 rebounds as a sophomore in 2020.

Koranga was rated as the No. 2 JUCO recruit in the entire country by World Exposure Women’s Basketball and she was the 2020 WBCA JUCO Player of the Year and a NJCAA First-Team All-American in 2020. She also earned second-team NJCAA All-America honors in 2019. Koranga also played for the Kenyan National Team in 2019.

“Obviously, to sign the WBCA (JUCO) College Player of the Year would be a highlight of any coaches’ recruiting career and Felmas Koranga is definitely a highlight,” Rigby said. “Her 26 double-doubles last season proves that she fights just as hard for rebounds as she does to score.

“As outstanding as her career has been so far, she is even more outstanding as a person. She is gracious, giving and grateful and though these qualities will not show on any stat line, I am just as excited for her to contribute those qualities to our culture.”

Joining Koranga at Troy will be Sinclair Community College standout Dominique Camp. Camp – a Dayton, OH native – is a 5-foot-9-inch guard that averaged 19.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2020.

Camp earned Ohio Community College Athletic Conference First-Team All-Conference and District XII All-District. She also earned OCCAC Defensive Player of the Year and Co-Freshman of the Year. Camp’s 193 assists in 2020 were third most in the entire nation.

Camp is also a unique signing for Troy as she comes to the Lady Trojans after never getting a chance to even visit campus.

“We are so fortunate to be able to sign Dominique Camp during this COVID-19 crisis,” Rigby said. “Due to travel restrictions, we never got to meet her in person or bring her to visit Troy.

“She is our last signee of this 2020 class and she really checked so many boxes we needed. She is a scoring and rebounding guard with great size and she possesses an uncanny ability to get the ball to her teammate that is in the best position to score while also taking a great deal of pride in helping her team defensively.”

Koranga and Camp join a class that also features Troy native Samira Moore, Moultrie, Ga.’s Janiah Ellis, Oklahoma City, Okla. point guard Sharonica Hartsfield, Cordele, Ga. native Jelissa Reese, Powder Springs, Ga. forward Kennedi White and JUCO transfer Agustina Talasimov. Talasimov hails from Lloret de Mar in Spain.