Ducks Add Guard Malcolm Armstead to Roster

EUGENE, Ore. -- Head coach Ernie Kent announced Thursday that Malcolm Armstead has signed a National Letter of Intent and will begin play for the Oregon men's basketball program in the upcoming 2009-10 season. Armstead, a 6-0, 195-pound point guard from Florence, Ala., recently completed his freshman year of eligibility at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla.

"The thing that impressed me the most about Malcolm was his contagious passion for the game of basketball and his understanding for the point guard position," Kent said. "That passion is going to make everybody around him better."

Armstead played in 35 games for the Indians during the 2008-09 season, averaging 6.8 points, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals per contest. Armstead went 41-of-79 on 3-pointers to shoot a team-best 52 percent from behind the arc. He maintained a 3.3 assist to turnover ratio.

"His speed, quickness and ability to shoot the ball will really strengthen our overall guard play," Kent said.

Armstead is the second player from Chipola to have signed an NLI with UO basketball this season. He joins fellow frosh Jeremy Jacob, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, in the recruiting class.

Chipola finished third at the 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association Men's National Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kan.

The Indians, who ended the regular-season as the top-ranked team in the NJCAA Top 25 Poll, defeated Conners State College, 102-70, in the consolation game of the national tournament. Chipola lost a 78-73 semifinal contest to Salt Lake Community College, a team that would go on to defeat Midland in the title game.

Chipola had a 32 game winning-streak before falling to Salt Lake CC. The only other loss came early in the season to Three Rivers College (78-71).

Oregon has signed a total of four players to NLIs for the upcoming season. In addition to the Chipola College signees, the Ducks have also added prep standouts Jamil Wilson (Racine, Wis.) and E.J. Singler (Medford, Ore.).

"This is a very good recruiting class. Individuals in this group will be counted on to make an immediate impact on our basketball program," Kent said.

Wilson, who signed with UO in early March, is ranked 31st overall and fourth at the small forward position by ESPNU. He is the nation's 35th-best prep player and the No. 5 small forward according to Scout.com, a service that has Wilson listed as a four-star recruit.

Wilson is coming off a senior season where he led Horlick High School to a 24-2 record en route to earning player of the year honors for Racine County. He averaged 21.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per contest during his senior campaign.

Singler was selected the 2009 Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) 6A State Player of the Year. Singler, one of two players who signed a National Letter of Intent with Oregon during the early signing period, averaged 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 steals per game in 2008-09.

Singler helped the Panthers to a 21-8 record and a sixth-place finish at the OSAA Class 6A tournament. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged a tourney-high 26.3 points and 11.7 boards per outing. Singler shot 47 percent from the field (27-of-57) and 79 percent from the charity stripe (23-of-29) in three games.