BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Western Kentucky University head men's basketball coach Ken McDonald has announced the signing of three newcomers to National Letters of Intent (NLI's) on Thursday. Brandon Peters will enter WKU in the fall of 2010 as a freshman and have four years of eligibility while Ken Brown and Kahlil McDonald will be juniors and each have two seasons of competition on the Hill. Peters, Brown, and McDonald join a Hilltopper recruiting class that also includes Stephon Drane and Kene Anyigbo who inked during the early signing period in November.
Peters is a 6-2, 180-pound guard out of Houston, Texas. Rated as the 32nd-best shooting guard in the nation, Peters is classified as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and rated 119th in the prestigious Rivals Top 150. In averaging 25.5 ppg this past season for famed Yates High School, Peters earned Fourth-Team honors on the MaxPreps Boys High School All-American team.
Yates finished a perfect 34-0 this season, capturing their second-straight Texas 4A State Championship. Winning 58-straight games, Yates ended the year ranked number one in the nation by USA Today. During the season, the squad scored 100 or more points in 15-straight games, breaking a 40-year-old national record.
In the 2010 Texas 4A State Championship game, Peters poured in 37 in the 92-73 victory. In the semifinal round, he was equally impressive with 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting.
Scouts, Inc. writes of Peters, "Peters is an athletic finisher who will be a good piece to into the puzzle for the Hilltoppers next season. When you talk about a finisher who can play above the rim, Peters is the definition."
Peters chose WKU over Memphis, North Texas, Oregon State, and TCU as well as drawing heavy interest from Wichita State, Baylor, and Missouri.
Brown is a 6-1, 160-pound point guard from St. Louis, Mo. He played this past season at Cerritos College, averaging 14.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. In leading the California junior college in those statistical categories, Brown also shot 70.0 percent from the free throw line and 44.0 percent from the field.
Prior to playing his sophomore season at Cerritos, Brown began his collegiate career at Southwest Tennessee Community College, averaging 3.9 assists per game in guiding the Saluqis to a 27-3 record and a Tennessee Community College Athletic Association championship.
At Soldan High School in St. Louis, Mo., Brown averaged 22.4 ppg and 3.0 apg.
Brown chose WKU over Hawaii, Houston, USC, Lamar, ULM, Portland State, San Diego State, Texas Southern, Utah, Wichita State, and Wyoming.
McDonald is a 6-4, 190-pound guard who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. In two seasons at Blinn College, he averaged 22.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting nearly 50.0 percent from the three-point line. Entering the 2009-10 season at the Texas junior college, McDonald was rated by JucoJunction.com, a division of Rivals.com, as the 12th-best junior college prospect in the country.
After earning All-America Third-Team honors as a freshman, he was placed on the NJCAA All-Conference and All-Region XIV teams this past year.
WKU finished this past season 21-13, notching its Sun Belt Conference record sixth-straight 20-win season, the longest such stretch for the Hilltoppers in 65 years. Now with 40 seasons of 20 or more wins, WKU ranks sixth all-time in NCAA history trailing only Kentucky (54), North Carolina (53), UCLA (45), Duke (45), and Louisville (43). The Toppers return six of their top nine scorers including starters Steffphon Pettigrew, Sergio Kerusch, and Caden Dickerson.
