Thursday, May 7, 2009

Lions land JUCO transfer Bingham

The Freed-Hardeman Lions landed yet another recruit for the upcoming season with the signing of Ken Bingham of Selmer, Tenn.

Bingham, a 6-foot-4 guard, will transfer to Freed-Hardeman after spending two years at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he played for Coach Gene Bess, who is college basketball's winningest coach with a career record of 1084-283. While at TRCC, Bingham averaged 10.6 points per game for a program that went 57-13 in his two years. He averaged 11.1 points per game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range this past season for the NJCAA Region 16 Champions. As a freshman, Bingham averaged 10.1 points per game in helping the Raiders finish fourth at the NJCAA National Tournament.

"For the past two years, Ken has been part of the best junior college program in the country at Three Rivers," said FHU head coach Jason Shelton. "Coach Bess and his staff are some of the best teachers in the game, not just on the floor but off as well.

"Bingham turned down offers from Eastern Kentucky, Sam Houston State, Charleston Southern, and Southeastern Missouri - all NCAA Division I schools - to join the Lions.

"Ken is a versatile player and a very good athlete," Shelton said. "His ability to shoot the 3 and also create for himself and others off the dribble will be a welcomed addition to our program. Most of all, he can defend because you can't play at Three Rivers if you can't guard.

"Bingham prepped at McNairy Central HS in Selmer, Tenn., where he averaged 18.7 points per game as a senior. He was a TSWA Class AA All-State selection as a senior and was ranked in the top 150 shooting guards in the nation out of high school by ESPN.com.

He joins Jonathan Milewski (Memphis, Tenn./Evangelical Christian), Michael Young (Franklin, Tenn./Franklin HS), James Haddix (Franklin, Tenn./Franklin HS), Kyle Teichmann (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood HS) and Tony Hazard (Paducah, Ky./Paducah Tilghman HS) in the Lions' 2009-10 recruiting class.

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