Story Created:
Aug 9, 2010 at 3:41 PM PST
Story Updated:
Aug 9, 2010 at 4:08 PM PST
Former Manual Arts High School standout Gaellan Bewernick has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward, an All-City and All-Wave selection for the Toilers, played for the American International Basketball Institute postgraduate team in Asheville, N.C. last season.
He averaged 25.5 points and 17.7 rebounds two years ago as a senior at Manual Arts.
Northern Arizona coach Mike Adras feels the Lumberjacks will get contributions from Bewernick and Greek center Rafail Tsourakis, who also signed.
“I am very excited to have these student-athletes join the program,” Adras said. “I think both have the opportunity to contribute. It will be interesting to see how much with the very experienced team we have returning. We have two young players that Lumberjack fans will really like to watch as they grow and get better for the next four years.
“Gaellen has the ability to score inside and outside. He runs the court well and he rebounds the ball well. We need to get guys who are aggressively pursuing rebounds. You don’t put up numbers like he did in high school unless you play every possession. He reminds me of former Lumberjack Ruben Boykin.”
Bewernick, whose uncle played football at NAU, was also a three-year letter winner in volleyball.
Tsourakis is listed at 6-10 and 220 pounds. He was selected to play for the Greek national team but has not seen any action. He is originally from the Island of Crete.
“Rafail is going to have an adjustment adapting to not just American basketball, but Division I basketball,” Adras said. “It is going to be a huge transition for him. He is very effective in the low post and can step out and make shots. He is a pretty skilled big guy, which is what you see with most European big players. He has the necessary skill set to be successful.”
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