April 20, 2010

MSUB Men’s Basketball Signs Two

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings head men’s basketball coach, George Pfeifer, announced the signing of two players for the 2010-2011 season.  Emery Henning from Walla Walla Community College (WA) and Robert Mays from Casper College (WY) both inked with the Yellowjackets.

Henning, a 6-10, Great Falls, Mont., native, was named to the All-Northwest Athletic Association Community College first team (NWAACC) and earned all-NWAACC tournament team honors as a sophomore.  He averaged 17.7 points and shot 62 percent from the floor and had a career-high 35 points at Skagit Valley (WA) in the Crossover Tournament.  Henning averaged 7.1 rebounds per game and had six double-doubles. 

“Emery is the best you’re going to get to coach,” Walla Walla head coach Jeff Reinland said.  “His improvement has been daily an ongoing and you can see the respect he earned from coaches in our league through the accolades he garnered.  He is a great teammate and student, who just gets stuff done on the court.”

He scored 20 or more points nine times last season and shot 70 percent from the line, while recording 2.8 blocks per game.  Henning helped lead WWCC to a 23-6 record which was the second-best finish in school history and finished fourth in the NWAACC tournament.

“Emery is s self-made player,” Pfeifer said.  “He was not on a lot of people’s radar coming out of Great Falls and during his time at WWCC, he has made great strides.  He has soft hands and can really pass out of the post.  He can step out and shoot the ball and is very good with his back to the basket.  He fills a stat line all the time and can score, rebound and block shots.  Emery is not flashy night-in-night-out, but he produces through both his mental and physical effort.”

Mayes, also who will be a junior in the fall, hails from Houston, Texas, and was an All-Region IX tournament selection on a Casper College team that was ranked as high as 24th nationally and posted a 24-9 record this past season.  It was the most wins in over a decade for Casper.  Mayes averaged 12.7 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 52 percent from the field.  He tallied a career-high 31 points and 19 rebounds in one game, and against nationally ranked College of Southern Idaho, he scored 15 points and eight rebounds.

“We saw Robert play a lot and we see him as a ‘holistic’ type player,” Pfeifer said.  “He is one of those individuals who does everything really well. He is long, quick and bouncy as an athlsete.  He handles the ball well and can block shots and always is seeking rebounds.  He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stats – tracking down loose balls, deflecting passes and making others around him better players.  We like to get out and run and Robert will fit well in that scheme.  He plays really, really hard and is an effort guy.”

The 6-7 Mayes prepped at M.B. Smiley High School where he helped lead his team to play for the district championship all four years and winning the title in his sophomore and senior years.

“Robert was not only valuable as a scorer and rebounder, but Robert is a tremendous kid of very high character,” Casper College head coach Joel Davidson said.  “He is a great person, great teammate and will be a great addition to the Yellowjacket program.  He is someone we counted on to defend multiple positions night in and night out.”