As the school year begins at Fort Lewis College, the men’s basketball roster is rounding into its final shape under first-year coach Jordan Mast.
The men’s basketball team announced the signings of four players on Monday on the team’s Instagram page. The Skyhawks now have 14 players listed on the 2024-2025 roster.
Aiden Gibson was the first player announced on Monday. Gibson is a 6-foot 8-inch 217-pound forward who’s from Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He went for a career-high 53 points in a single game. Gibson will be a freshman this fall.
Associate head coach James Jansen saw Gibson play in a showcase and was immediately impressed.
“He's got size, IQ for the game and the ability to shoot the ball,” Mast said about Gibson. “He’s going to be much more one of these skilled four-men who can be versatile, do a little bit everything. But he doesn't look like a freshman. He's physically imposing. He’s got some good size on so we thought he would do well at the college level.”
Chuol Deng is coming to FLC with some Division I experience. From Juba, South Sudan, Deng is a 6-7, 208-pound senior forward.
Deng sat out the 2023-2024 season. He spent the 2022-2023 season at Oakland University and played in 13 games. In 2021-2022, Deng was at a junior college called Hill College. He averaged 9.7 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game there. Deng spent the 2020-2021 season at Colorado Northwestern Community College. He averaged 11.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg there.
Mast said it wasn’t a great fit for Deng at Oakland and said he showed great talent at the junior college level. Deng has great versatility on defense with great athleticism. He can play inside and can step out to shoot.
Ammon “AJ” Riggs is another freshman Mast and the Skyhawks staff are bringing in. The 6-3, 180-pound guard is from Gilbert, Arizona and went to Highland High School in Gilbert. He graduated high school in 2022 and was in England for the last two years for a church mission.
A 20-year-old freshman, Riggs led Arizona in 3-point shooting his senior year.
“He's not going to play like a freshman and he can really shoot it,” Mast said. “He's a lot more athletic than we thought, so we're excited about him. He's our diamond in the rough potentially. But again, on the court, he will be a freshman and he has been out of hoops for two years. We expect growing pains getting back into it, but we’re really excited about him. I think he'll flourish. He's a great kid, a culture kid as well.”
Sophomore Joseph LeFlore Jr. spent last season with Mast and the University of Antelope Valley. Originally from Denver, the 5-11, 165-pound guard should be a good depth piece for the Skyhawks this season. Mast said he’s a great culture guy who will help build the culture of Mast’s program.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
