FORT SMITH, Ark. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Men's Basketball Head Coach Jim Boone has announced the signing of three individuals for the 2021 recruiting class.
Joining the Lions program are guard Drew Irby, forward Andrew Iyamah and guard Lukas Reichle.
"We are very excited about this class and all they bring to our program, most importantly as people, but as well, their fit to our program's culture," Boone said. "We wanted to add athleticism along with an ability to score the basketball, and I feel we have definitely accomplished both. But again, first and foremost, each of these student-athletes are quality young men who will be outstanding representatives of UAFS and the Fort Smith community."
Irby comes to Fort Smith from Portageville High School in Portageville, Missouri, where as team captain he averaged 18.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists as a senior to earn first team All-State honors. He is also a two-time first team All-Conference, All-District and All-Area honoree.
"Drew is a coach's son, having been around the game his entire life. His basketball I-Q and understanding of how we play far and away exceeds most freshmen," Boone explained. "He has proven himself as a quality basketball player in a very distinguished prep career, while graduating with a 4.0 GPA as the Valedictorian of his class."
Along with being valedictorian and student body president, Irby was an Academic All-State honoree, as well.
Iyamah joins the Lions from Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Texas. Last season, Iyamah averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and four blocks per game on his way to being named first team All-District and the Defensive Player of the Year in one of the toughest districts in all of Texas 6A high school basketball. For the season, he totaled 96 blocks.
"Andrew is an athletic post player with an uncanny shot blocking ability," Boone said. "He has played at a very high level of play in his high school career and accomplished much. We feel his best basketball is ahead of him, and again, we are very excited to watch his development as a Lion."
Reichle will be joining the program from Salzburg, Austria. There he played for the U18 Austrian national team and was invited to the men's national team training camp in 2019 and 2020. His U19 team won the Austrian national championship, where he was the MVP of the tournament.
"Lukas brings a maturity level along with the ability to score and defend at our level of play," Boone said. "His accomplishments in his own country are impressive and we are very excited to welcome him to our basketball family."
