Hamilton Heights' Treasure Hunt Signs With Kentucky As Four Other Hawks Also Ink DI Letters

  • Wednesday, November 13, 2019
  • Joseph Dycus

It was a celebratory day at perennial basketball powerhouse Hamilton Heights, as five student-athletes signed their letter of intents to play D-1 basketball at schools far away from Chattanooga. These included the second-best men’s player in the state of Tennessee, at least according to 247Sports, and two five star recruit according to ESPN’s women’s basketball recruiting rankings. 

The girls’ team had three standouts sign with on the dotted line. Ruth Balogun will join Central Arkansas, Kamilla Cardoso is headed to the northeast to play for Syracuse, and coach Keisha Hunt’s daughter Treasure Hunt will take her talents to Lexington to play for Kentucky. 

“These players have worked hard for a long time, and they’re all three ready for next year. I’m very excited for them,” said coach Hunt, “All three of them are wonderful teammates and they work hard, they love to win and they’re competitive.”

She made sure to praise her daughter Treasure, who will join Cleveland native Rhyne Howard and reigning national freshman of the year on the Wildcat’s stacked roster. Hunt is rated as the second-best player in Tennessee, trailing only her shot-blocking teammate in Cardoso. 

“Yes, it is extra-special, and she’ll be joining Rhyne Howard from Cleveland,” said coach Hunt, “I coached them in travel ball, and I’m excited to see them play together again.”

Treasure Hunt echoed her mother/coach’s sentiments, saying “I’m so excited. I’m excited to play with my old teammate and making a difference at Kentucky. I can bring my shooting skills and athleticism and my defense to the team.”

On the boy’s side, four-star recruit Samson Ruzhentsev will go south to Gainesville to join the Florida Gators and former teammate Jason Jitoboh. And forward Bayron Matos will traipse to New Mexico on an athletic scholarship to round out the group of future collegiate athletes. 

“This is obviously a huge part of what we do, which is giving these kids an opportunity to further their education in the United States by earning athletic scholarships,” said boys’ head coach Zach Ferrell about the international group of athletes, four of whom hail from outside of the states, “It’s very exciting to have them here today, where three of our girls and two of our boys are signing NCAA division one scholarships.”   

He raved about the scoring acumen of Ruzhentsev, the tall Russian small forward who looks to get immediate playing time for the perennial SEC powerhouse. The coach emphasized Ruzhentsev’s unique ability to get a basket from anywhere on the floor. 

“Samson is going to bring an incredible offensive ability to score at all three levels,” said coach Ferrell, “He’s going to bring great work ethic and coachability, and he’ll be in the gym all the time working to get better and improving his game.”

Coach Ferrell also gave ample praise to his other scholarship player, one Bayron Matos, who originally hails from the Dominican Republic. The coach believed the burly inside presence would be able to thrive in the Mountain West Conference. 

“Bayron is going to bring a fierce intensity, great rebounding ability, and great upside as far as ability to get better and improve and be a force on that team and in that league for a long, long time,” said coach Ferrell, “He’ll bring great energy and enthusiasm and excitement to that team.”

“When I was coming here, I was hoping I would get a scholarship to go somewhere to play basketball,” said Ruzhentsev, “But of course, I couldn’t imagine I would sign with the University of Florida. It’s a dream come true.”

The two players continue a Hamilton Height’s tradition of sending players to big-name colleges. The most noteworthy of these names are Canadian cousins Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who both play in the NBA. The Hawks boys and girls teams are both reigning NACA (National Association of Christian Athletes) champions.  

 

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