Tulsa's Wojcik Signs JUCO National Tournament MVP
5/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 3, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma - University of Tulsa Head Basketball Coach Doug Wojcik announced today that Paris (Texas) Junior College point guard Roderick Earls, after leading his team to the national junior college championship, has signed a national letter-of-intent with the Golden Hurricane.
Earls, a 6'2", 185-pounder, led his Paris Junior College team to an overall 28-9 record and the NJCAA National Championship this past year.
Earls was named the NJCAA National Tournament Most Valuable Player as well as earning first-team all-tournament team merits. In four tournament games, he averaged 13.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists, while shooting 54-percent from three-point range and 75-percent from the free throw line. In the title game, Earls scored 10 points in a 70-61 victory over Moberly Area Community College.
A two-year starter, Earls led the Dragons to a two-year mark of 54-16 while averaging 7.5 points, 3.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds.
"Rod is a winner. He won in high school with a state championship as a junior and his team finished as the state runners-up his senior season. He continued to win at Paris," said Wojcik. "He has great character, outstanding leadership abilities and is a very good shooter. Rod's parents are extremely supportive people. He's the type of young man that we want representing Tulsa basketball."
As a sophomore in 2004-05, Earls scored at an 8.8 clip, dished out 3.6 assists and grabbed 2.5 rebounds. He shot 43-percent from the field and 42-percent from three-point range. Earls ranked 23rd nationally in free throw percentage by converting 92-of-113 attempts for a 81.4 percentage in the 2004-05 season.
During his freshman campaign, Earls averaged 6.2 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds while starting 23 of 33 games.
"Roderick is a really solid player who takes good care of the basketball and makes few mistakes. He had nearly a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in his two seasons," said Paris head Coach Bill Foy. "He's a winner. He does a good job of running the team and hits the open shot. Roderick has the ability to play both guard positions."
Earls played his prep basketball at Parkview High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
