Men’s Basketball  Cameron Brennan

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Brent Owen recently announced the addition of four more members to his signing class in preparation for the Greyhounds’ 2021-22 campaign.

Owen will welcome three college transfers in Adam Hess, JaQuan Morris, and James Jordan, along with first-year student Kentrell Pullian. The four guards will add depth to the Green and Silver backcourt. Hess, Morris, Jordan, and Pullian join Junior Hodnett, who signed with the Greyhounds in the fall of 2020.

“I am excited about the level of talent and winning mentality that these young men bring to our program. I cannot wait to get to work with them this fall,” said Owen.

Hess comes to Portales after spending one season at University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) making a handful of appearances for the Miners. Before UTEP, Hess spent a season at Salt Lake Community College as a redshirt freshman. During his lone season, Hess poured in 47 baskets from 3-point range and helped the Bruins to a 29-4 record with a perfect conference record.

The West Lake, California native hit double digits in five games during his season with the Bruins. Hess averaged 17.5 points and 6.2 boards at West Lake HS, racking up a career high of 35 points along with four double doubles.

“Adam brings exceptional shooting ability and experience to our roster. When you combine that with his 6’5″ frame and our style of play, we believe that he will be a major threat for opponents in the Lone Star Conference,” said Owen, “Adam is a great young man who will have three years to spend in Portales.”

Morris joins the Greyhound roster following his sophomore season at Blinn Community College. With the Buccaneers, Morris collected 15.9 points per game, four rebounds per game, and three assists per game. Morris spent a year at Tallahassee Community College after graduating from Sound Doctrine Christian Academy. While at Tallahassee C.C., Morris scored just under 10 points per game in 27 appearances with nine starts.

“JaQuan is a big, athletic guard, who can really shoot the ball and gets to the free throw line consistently. In my experience, the players that can do those two things are the hardest players to contain,” Owen said. “I’m excited to see the impact that he can make during his two years at Eastern.”

Jordan is coming from Kent State University, where he registered a season-high 10 points against Central Michigan and season-high seven rebounds versus Point Park as a sophomore. Before that, he poured in 19 points per game and grabbed five boards per game at Roane State.

Jordan’s season at Roane led to an invitation to the Junior College Advocate 45 game for the Detroit, Michigan native. The JC Advocate is only extended to the top 45 junior college players in the nation. Jordan led all scorers in the game with 24 points.

“James is a talented, versatile guard who can play multiple positions including running the point with his 6’5″ frame,” said Owen. “He is a great shooter, takes care of the ball, and can create for his teammates.”

Pullian comes to Eastern following a successful career at Benton Harbor High School. The point guard garnered 1st Team All-State honors in Michigan by the Associated Press during his senior season. At Benton Harbor, Pullian averaged 20 points per game, in addition to six rebounds and five assists per game. Pullian led his team to a 17-3 record and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 Michigan Boys Basketball State Tournament.

“Kentrell is a hard-nosed point guard with exceptional speed, athleticism, and scoring ability. He is a winner and has a reputation for leading by example,” said Owen. “The point guard position is vital for how we want to play and I couldn’t be more excited to have a player of Kentrell’s caliber in that position for the next four years.”

The Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball team returns to the court after missing the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2019-20, the Hounds went 8-19 overall and 8-14 in LSC play. Owen will look to build upon those records to lead Eastern to success as he sees action on the sidelines for the first time at the helm of the program.