KNOXVILLE -- Bobby Maze has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Tennessee beginning with the 2008-09 season, head coach Bruce Pearl announced Wednesday.
A 6-foot-2, 185-pound point guard, Maze led Hutchinson Community College with 20.7 points, 6.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game as a sophomore last season. A first team NJCAA All-America, he was chosen the Most Valuable Player of the Jayhawk Conference’s Western Division after leading the Blue Dragons to a 23-9 overall record and a 12-4 mark in league play.
The Washington, DC, native set a school record with 16 assists in a game against Barton County CC and became just the third player in school history to record more than 200 assists in a season when he registered 218 this year. Maze began his college career at the University of Oklahoma where he played in 22 games, earning five starting assignments, and averaged 5.6 points and 2.5 assists as a freshman in 2006-07.
“Bobby was the best point guard in all of junior college this year,” said Pearl, who has led the Vols to a 77-24 record in three seasons. “We added incoming freshman Daniel West but, with the loss of Ramar Smith, we needed another ball-handler. Bobby is fast with the ball, is excellent in the transition game and the ball screen offense. He is a pass first guard who can also make the open shots. ”
Maze is the fifth member of Tennessee’s 2008 signing class, joining Scotty Hopson (6-7, 185, Guard, Hopkinsville, Ky.), Philip Jurick (6-10, 250, Center, Chattanooga, Tenn.), Daniel West (6-1, 165, Guard, Saginaw, Mich.) and Renaldo Woolridge (6-8, 205, Wing, North Hollywood, Calif.)
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)