Men's Basketball | 4/21/2021 11:16:00 AM

Dixie State head men's basketball coach Jon Judkins announced on Wednesday the signing of Dancell Leter to a National Letter of Intent. Leter will join Noa Gonsalves (Lehi [UT] HS) as members of the incoming Trailblazer Class of 2021.

Leter (PF, 6-8) helped lead Odessa (TX) College to a Western Junior College Athletic Conference regular season championship and to a berth to the 2021 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships in Hutchinson, Kan.

The sophomore power forward, who earned all-WJCAC honors, averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds a game this season. Leter scored in double figures in nine of 22 games played, highlighted by a season-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting with nine rebounds in a win at Frank Phillips College (2/8), and an 18-point performance vs. Western Texas (4/6).

Prior to his time at Odessa, Leter played as a freshman at Jacksonville (TX) College, where he averaged a double-double at 13.3 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. He started in 21 of 27 games for the Jaguars and shot 50.4 percent from the floor and better than 77 percent at the foul line.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Dancell to the Dixie State Basketball family," Coach Judkins said. "Dancell is a hard working and high character student-athlete who will have an immediate impact in our program.

"After this past year we knew as a coaching staff that we had some areas that we had to improve on, one of those areas was rebounding," Judkins noted. "Dancell will have an impact on the glass, he has a great motor and a real gift for rebounding on both ends of the floor. Dancell will be able to play multiple positions for us and will be a great benefit on both ends of the court."

A native of Paramaribo, Suriname, Leter also played for his country's national team, for which he averaged 21 points and eight rebounds a game in international play.

Dixie State wrapped up its first NCAA Division I season with an 8-13 overall record, which included a 4-10 mark in Western Athletic Conference play. The Trailblazers posted six wins against Division I opponents in its debut season at the D-I level, which included a 3-0 start overall.

In addition, DSU was the only program in the WAC that did not have to go through an extended COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, and was the only team in the conference to play its full slate of league games (not including the Chicago State season shutdown).

Why Dancell Leter chose Dixie State - "I chose Dixie State because I felt the love from the coaches who recruited me consistently and were straight with me from the beginning. I love their winning and family culture, their great facilities and school and I feel like this is a place I can come make an impact. I feel like Dixie State is a place I can go to develop into a pro and compete for championships."