Tulsa Inks Oswaldo Gonzalez to National Letter of Intent
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 1, 2003
Tulsa, Oklahoma - University of Tulsa Head Basketball Coach John Phillips announced today the signing of one junior college player to a national letter-of-intent, giving the Hurricane five newcomers for the 2003-04 basketball season.
Oswaldo Gonzalez, a 6'9", 240-pound center from Jacksonville College in Jacksonville, Texas, will continue his collegiate career with the Golden Hurricane. Gonzalez, from Caracas, Venezuela, averaged 10.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks this past season for the Jaguars. He shot 52-percent from the field as a sophomore and had high games of 19 points vs. Trinity Valley College and 15 rebounds against Lon Morris College.
A two-year starter, Gonzalez led Jacksonville College to consecutive 17-14 records and two straight appearances in the Region XIV Tournament. He earned honorable mention all-region accolades in his sophomore season.
Last week, Gonzalez played in the National JUCO All-Star Game for the USA All-Star team against the Region II All-Stars. He tallied nine points and 12 rebounds.
"Oswaldo is very athletic and strong. He's a shot blocker, can rebound and is effective in the paint scoring. More importantly, he's a great person. He's the model of what kind of player we want in our program at Jacksonville. He'll fit in well at Tulsa," said Jacksonville Head Coach Brandon Curran.
"The signing of Oswaldo addresses a need we had for a big guy in the middle," said Phillips. "He is a solid rebounder, who is also very quick and agile for his size and runs the floor extremely well. We're happy to have Oswaldo join our basketball program. He's a good student who should fit really well into the campus community.
Gonzalez was also being recruited by College of Charleston, South Alabama, New Mexico State, Nebraska and New Mexico.
