Haith Adds JUCO Standout Simon Falokun to Recruiting Class

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa head men's basketball coach Frank Haith announced on Wednesday that junior college standout Simon Falokun (Houston, Texas/Alief Taylor HS/Dawson CC) has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the program for the 2018-19 season.

Falokun becomes the fifth member of the 2018 recruiting class and he will have three years of eligibility with the Golden Hurricane. Signees Chris Barnes, Peter Hewitt and Zeke Moore also will have three years of eligibility remaining at TU, while Reggie Jones will redshirt the upcoming 2018-19 season per NCAA transfer rules before playing his final two years with the Golden Hurricane.

"I am excited about the addition of Simon and what he will bring to our program on the court, in the classroom and in our community," Haith said. "Simon was one of the most improved players in the country last season and worked his way into receiving All-America honors as a true freshman. He is a big, strong and rugged forward that has three years of eligibility left, so we feel like his best basketball is still in front of him. Simon is already 6-foot-8, 230 pounds and he has the frame to add some more muscle. He is very active around the rim and was an efficient post scorer, but his strongest attribute is his competitive fire and how hard he plays. The energy that he brings makes him a good rebounder and post defender and hit fit exactly what we wanted at our program for this coming season and beyond."

Falokun comes to Tulsa after spending his freshman season (2017-18) at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Mont., where he averaged 15.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Falokun was an NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American, NJCAA All-Region XIII honoree and a first-team Mon-Dak Conference pick. As the team's top rebounder and second-leading scorer, he helped the Buccaneers to a 24-8 record and a spot in the Region XIII championship game.

Falokun shot 55.3-percent from the field during the campaign and he was the No. 1 player in the country for low-post efficiency according to Synergy Sports Technology with 1.077 points per possession when he got the ball in the post.

For the season, he scored in double-figures in 31 of the team's 32 games and he posted 15 double-doubles. Falokun scored a season-high 30 points against Bismarck State and pulled down a season-best 18 rebounds twice. In addition, he averaged 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds during conference play and was the Mon-Dak Player of the Week twice.

While at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, Texas, Falokun was a three-time All-District 23-6A selection, earning first-team honors his last two seasons. He averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game during his senior campaign and finished his prep career as the program's all-time leading rebounder as well as its third-highest scorer.

2018 Tulsa Signing Class
Chris Barnes
6-4 • Guard
Compton, Calif. (Compton HS/UTEP/Angelina College)
Will have three years of eligibility at TU ... played his freshman season at UTEP where he appeared in 16 games ... redshirting at Angelina College this season ... averaged 12 points, five rebounds and five assists as a senior at Compton HS and was a first-team all-conference pick ... led the team to a 19-11 mark and was a SoCal Prep Legends Athlete of the Week in January 2016 ... led Long Beach Millikan HS to a 20-9 record as a junior by averaging 20 ppg and earned all-league and all-state recognition ... was a member of a state title squad at Bishop Montgomery HS as a sophomore.

Simon Falokun
6-8 • Forward
Houston, Texas (Alief Taylor HS/Dawson CC)
Will have three years of eligibility at TU ... averaged 15.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his freshman season at Dawson Community College ... was an NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American, NJCAA All-Region XIII honoree and first-team Mon-Dak Conference pick ... was the team's top rebounder and second-leading scorer, while helping the Buccaneers to a 24-8 record and a spot in the Region XIII championship game ... scored in double-figures in 31 of the team's 32 game and logged 15 double-doubles ... averaged 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds during conference play and was the Mon-Dak Player of the Week twice ... shot 55.3-percent and was the No. 1 player in the country for low-post efficiency according to Synergy Sports Technology with 1.077 points per possession when he got the ball in the post ... was a three-time All-District 23-6A selection at Alief Taylor High School in Houston ... averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game as a senior ... ended his prep career as the program's leading rebounder and its third-leading scorer.

Peter Hewitt
6-10 • Forward
Mountain View, Calif. (Saint Francis HS/UC Davis/Las Positas College)
Will have three years of eligibility at TU ... redshirted his freshman season at UC Davis ... averaged 10.4 points and 9.1 rebounds in 29 games during the 2017-18 season at Las Positas College ... shot 57.8-percent from the field and scored in double-figures 17 times … registered 11 double-doubles … was a three-year letterwinner at Saint Francis High School and helped lead the Lancers to a pair of West Coast Athletic League titles over his final two seasons ... averaged 11 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal per game and was an all-conference pick ... ranked No. 35 in the state by ESPN and had a top-10 Northern California ranking ... was an honor roll student all four years of high school.

Reggie Jones
6-6 • Guard/Forward
Marion, Ind. (Marion HS/Western Michigan)
Will sit out the 2018-19 season per NCAA transfer rules and have two years of eligibility remaining … in two seasons at Western Michigan, he totaled 613 points (9.6 ppg), 235 rebounds (3.7 rpg) and 140 assists (2.2 apg) over 64 games … in 2017-18 he was the team's third-leading scorer at 10.1 ppg and he was one of five players to play in all 32 contests … as a freshman in 2016-17, he appeared in all 32 games with 14 starts and averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing to earn a spot on the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team … scored in double-figures 13 times and ranked third on the team in scoring and assists, while he also ranked second on the squad in steals and 3-point field goal percentage … was a three-star recruit and No. 10 ranked player by ESPN coming out of Marion (Ind.) High School … averaged 16 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.1 steals per game as a senior to lead the Giants to the Class 3A title … was an IBCA/Subway Senior Large School All-State Team selection, was named the Chronicle-Tribune's Boys Basketball Player of the Year, as well as one of the Top 60 senior boys' basketball players by Hoosier Basketball Magazine.

Zeke Moore
6-7 • Guard
St. Louis, Mo. (Riverview Gardens HS/Saint Louis/Southwest Illinois CC)
Will have three years of eligibility at TU ... played his freshman season at Saint Louis where he saw action in 29 games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game ... also shot 39-percent from behind the arc with the Billikens ... redshirting this season at Southwest Illinois CC ... played for his father, Gerard Moore, at Riverview Gardens HS ... was one of the top scorers in the area by averaging 21.1 ppg as a senior ... also was one of the area's top shooters with nearly three 3-pointers per game and an 82.8-percent average at the free-throw line ... averaged 25.3 ppg as a junior and was named the Suburban North Co-Player of the Year.

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Haith Adds JUCO Standout Simon Falokun to Recruiting Class

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