By: Patrick Murphy
GOLDEN, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines head men's basketball coach
Pryor Orser has announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to join the Orediggers for the 2023-24 season.
The class is comprised of a deep class of combination and perimeter guards and a trio post players and spans coast to coast and includes some international flair, with student-athletes from five different states as well as Canada and Argentina.
"We are thrilled beyond words as to how we feel about our signing class. Exceptional students, goal oriented, team guys, and great people is how we would describe this class," said Orser. "This is the best signing class that I've ever had at Mines and there's some good ones. We've got guys with skill, great shooters, great athleticism, and leadership characteristics that only bode success and we can't wait to see what it looks like. They all will need to have a great summer and get ready to for a great year. A few guys will play, but a few will probably redshirt, as we have a lot of guys returning."
Juani Dassie // 6'5" // Guard/Forward // Córdoba, Argentina // Colegio Hortus Conclusus (Cuesta College)
Dassie comes to Golden after beginning his collegiate career at Cuesta College in California. During his time with the Cougars, he averaged 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting .489/.465/.830 and was named Athlete of the Week five times and twice earned both First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Academic honors while also being named the MVP of the Hinson Tyre Classic. A native of Argentina, Dassie played swimming, tennis and rugby in addition to basketball in his high school career and graduated with a top seven GPA in his class. On the club circuit, he has played for Club San Martin de Marcos Juárez, Sportivo Atlético Club, Club Atlético Bell, Club Atlético Atenas de Córdoba and also played for Argentina's U16 National Team. He intends to major in Mechanical Engineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on Dassie: "Juani is our first Argentinian to join our program to my knowledge. He played two years at a Cuesta Community College in California, which is known for its pre-engineering program. Juani made 101 threes this past year at almost 50% with 10 in one game. He has a beautiful shot that when the ball is released, you always think it is going in. He has great range on his jumper, but is also comfortable playing around the basket. His outstanding skill set as a shooter allows him to make contested shots against very good athletes. He is also an above average rebounder as well. He has a great personality and communicates very well and is also an outstanding student. Juani will have two years of eligibility, but also has a redshirt year for flexibility in making sure he graduates or leaves with a graduate degree."
Majok Deng // 6'4" // Guard // Tucson, Arizona // Salpointe Catholic HS (Pepperdine)
Deng arrives in Golden after starting his collegiate career at Pepperdine University, where he was a member of the Waves' program for four seasons. After redshirting during the 2019-20 season, Deng went on to appear in 40 games over the following three seasons for Pepperdine while making three starts over that span. His best shooting season came in the 2020-21 season where he went .382 from the floor with 19 rebounds, four steals and a block as he averaged 2.6 PPG in 7.5 MPG. He appeared in a career-high 15 games as a redshirt sophomore and averaged 9.1 MPG and connected on seven three-pointers while again collecting 19 boards and registering four assists while last season he appeared in 12 games. A graduate from Salpointe Catholic High School, Deng made AZ Central's All-Arizona team and was a finalist for Player of the Year honors as both a junior and senior. He averaged 17.4 points and 7.4 rebounds as a senior and 17.9 points and 6.5 rebounds as a junior and finished his prep career with more than 1,700 points and 900 rebounds. He was named a three-time 4A All-Kino Region honoree, and was the Player of the Year as a senior and the region's Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior. Deng led Salpointe Catholic to 2017 and 2018 4A state title game appearances while the 2019 team went 27-3 and reached the 4A state semifinals. He was also voted senior class president and rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals and three stars by 24/7 Sports and ESPN.
Coach Orser on Deng: "The transfer portal has been good to us these last few years and with Majok signing with us, I would now consider the portal being great. He had a lot of options to play at other schools, but Mines offers a specific graduate degree that appealed to his lifelong goal of helping people in his native country of South Sudan as well as Africa. His story is one of heartache, joy, resilience, and motivation. The ordinary person probably would not have made what he went through, but Majok is extraordinary and his energy, positive thinking, awareness, and his beautiful communication style will be a blessing to our team, campus, and community. Yes, and he is energized to play in a winning basketball program after sitting behind 2 NBA players during his career at Pepperdine. He can shoot the ball well and can also play around the basket. I am thrilled to offer him this opportunity and be able to coach him."
Derek Lamb // 6'7" // Forward/Center // Roseville, California // Whitney HS
A four-year varsity starter for Whitney High School, Lamb is averaging 12.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 1.8 BPG for his career. Twice he has earned Second Team All-League recognition and following his junior campaign, he garnered First Team honors for the first time. A team captain as well, he was named to the Top 60 at the Pango Frosh/Soph camp in September 2020. Off the court, Lamb has been nominated for Boys State and excelled in the classroom in AP and honors courses and recently passed his seal of biliteracy test in Spanish. He plans to major in Mechanical Engineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on Lamb: "Derek is another really good athlete who can run and jump, and play multiple positions. He changed schools this past year for academic reasons and was only eligible in January. Derek is also an outstanding student, tremendous character, and comes from a great family. His upside is off the charts. He also can guard multiple positions on the floor, can play around the basket and also is comfortable offensively on the perimeter. He has really good rebounding instincts coupled with his great hands and brings toughness and physicality to the floor. We feel he has the potential to develop into an outstanding player at our level. We look forward to developing Derek to his fullest potential."
Silas McCurnin // 6'2" // Guard // Fort Collins, Colorado // Poudre HS
McCurnin, the lone Coloradan in this year's signing class, will come to Golden from Fort Collins after a standout career at Poudre High School. A four-year varsity starter, the combo guard has led Poudre in scoring each season and has twice been named First Team All Front Range Conference and was a Second Team selection following his freshman campaign. He has also been named a Colorado All-State Honorable Mention. This past season, he became Poudre's all-time leader in three-point field goals, connecting on 101 treys on the season, eighth-most in Colorado state history, while eclipsing the previous program record of 259 on January 22 as he finished his career with 303, the fourth-most in state history. McCurnin also averaged 26.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steals per night and ended his career with a scoring average of 19.6 PPG. In his senior campaign, he led all of Class 6A in scoring and was fourth overall in the entire. Off the court, he has been named a First Team All-State Academic honoree and plans to major in Civil Engineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on McCurnin: "Silas is a player who we identified last spring and after watching him a few times at the B&B team camp on our campus and we were really impressed. Silas is also an outstanding student, comes from a great family, and loves the game of basketball. He is a gym rat so to speak, always working at his craft and has a laser focus about him when it comes to his academics, basketball and future career. He is very driven and once we learned more about him, it was a no brainer for us to recruit him. He is the prototypical combo guard we like, someone who scores the ball well, can play point in a pinch, and mesh with other good players on the floor. He can really score the ball and has unlimited range and we look forward to coaching Silas in the years to come."
Jon Moore // 6'7" // Forward // Lithia, Florida // Newsome HS
A four-sport standout at Newsome High School, Moore is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 12.7 PPG and 7.5 RPG. This season, Moore shot .654 from the field and scoring 14.1 points and pulling down 7.6 rebounds per game. During his prep career, he has been earned a bevy of accolades, including being named a Hillsborough County Top 25 Player and being a Western Conference First Team honoree and Issa Bucket County First Team Honorable Mention honors as well as Central Florida Top 10 Player Recognition and been named Newsome's Defensive Most Valuable Player. A presence in the post on the hardwood, Moore has also earned letters in volleyball as a setter and outside hitter, track and field in the high jump, long jump, 400m and 800m and also spent time between the pipes as a goalie on the pitch. A member of the National Honor Society and honor roll recipient, he plans to major in Mechanical Engineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on Moore: "We are thrilled to have our 3
rd Floridian (Trey Winbush, Jacksonville, and Ben Clare, St. Petersburg) join our program. Jonathon is a big, strong athlete who can run and jump as good as anyone we have ever recruited. He is an excellent shot blocker and rebounder, as well having a good skill set around the basket and is also comfortable shooting from the perimeter. Jonathon plays against higher level athletes every night and also plays in a great high school system that has a similar philosophy as our system. He understands ball movement and shot selection, defense and rebounding, and plays a huge part on his really good team. Jonathon is also a terrific student and comes from a wonderful family. He will be a fun guy to coach and develop."
Markus Pastorcic-Straun // 6'3" // Guard // Toronto, Ontario // Cape Fear Academy (NC)
Pastorcic-Straun prepped at Cape Fear Academy in North Carolina where he was a two-sport standout in basketball and track & field. As a senior, he averaged 17 points, five rebounds and five assists per game and was twice named to the Coastal Rivers Conference All-Conference Team as well as the All-Tournament Team and earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors in 2022-23. He was also a New Hanover County All-County First Team honoree in his career. Pastorcic-Straun played for Nike Bounce on the AAU circuit and averaged 12 points, five rebounds and four assists per game as well. Off the court, he was an honor roll student and named the recipient of both the Father Henry Carr Math and World Religion Studies Awards. He intends to major in Bioengineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on Pastorcic-Straun: "We are excited about having our first Canadian join our program via North Carolina. Marcus did his homework as he was looking for a great program, and also a school with outstanding academics where playing basketball would not deter him from his academic priorities and this due diligence led him to Mines and my email. We could not be thrilled more that this worked out for everyone. He is a class act, really good athlete, great student, and also gives our program a few things that are difficult for us to recruit to. He can really get to the basket and also the foul line and can really guard the ball and finish. As Marcus improves his shot, he will be a really tough player to guard at our level. We look forward to developing him into the best player he can be."
Alexander Romack // 6'7" // Forward // Westfield, Indiana // Westfield HS
Rounding out this year's incoming class, Romack was a three-year letterwinner at Westfield High School in Indiana where he averaged a double-double as a senior with 17 points and 10 rebounds along with three assists per game. A decorated prep play, he earned First Team HCC All-Conference honors as First Team All-County, First Team Large School All-State and First Team Academic All-State laurels. Off the court, Romack was a National AP scholar and graduated with honors. He intends to major in Biomedical Engineering at Mines.
Coach Orser on Romack: "Another player who did his homework and came up with the Colorado School of Mines. He will also be our first Indiana recruit since I have been at Mines. He fits the stereo type of an Indiana Baller-high basketball IQ, gym rat, competitor, and success in basketball is of a high value. Alex is a very good athlete who happens to be a really good basketball player. His high school teams were great, he was a big contributor on all of them. He can play on the perimeter as well play around the basket. He has super quick first step, but can also knock down a perimeter shot, then can go in the post and score it. He is as good a runner as we have had at the 4 position and is also a very good jumper. Alex is also a high-level student from a great family and we are thrilled he came out west to study and play basketball.
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
