June 12, 2003

The American University men's basketball team officially announced its recruiting class for the 2003-04 season. The four student-athletes who have signed National Letters of Intent with the Eagles are Brayden Billbe (Mercer Island, Wa./Mercer Island), Andre Ingram (Richmond, Va./ Highland Springs), Sekou Lewis (Cleveland, Ohio/Pendleton School) and Linas Lekavicius (Charlottesville, Va./The Miller School).

"We are extremely excited about this group of young men," said American University head coach Jeff Jones. "They fill some immediate needs and provide a very strong foundation for our future."

Lekavicius, who was born and raised in Silale, Lithuania, had a stellar three-year career at The Miller School, and capped it off by being named Co-State Player of the Year. Other awards Lekavicius garnered as a senior include first team All-State, Conference Player of the Year and Central Virginia Player of the Year. He led The Miller School to back-to-back conference championships and scored over 1,500 points in his career. As a senior he averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game. He shot 43 percent from beyond three-point land and 62 percent from the field.

"Linas is the best player in Virginia," said The Miller School head coach Fred Wawmer. "He does whatever his team needs him to do and he will do great things in the future."

Billbe comes to American from Mercer Island, Wash., after having an outstanding senior season under long-time Mercer Island head coach Ed Pepple. This past year he led Mercer to a 22-6 record and the state semi-finals. The 6-foot-10-inch center set the school record for blocks (90) in a season and averaged 12.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Billbe also dished out 48 assists and hit 71 percent of his free throws (67-94) and nearly 50 percent from the field (143-287). He was selected second team All Conference.

Billbe had received a lot of interest from West Coast schools, but a high school government trip to Washington, D.C. during his sophomore year made him think of D.C. as a possible destination for college.

One person who thought American was a great choice for Billbe was Mercer Island head coach Ed Pepple. Pepple, who has sent numerous players to Division I schools in his 45 years on the sidelines, felt the balance between academics and athletics at AU was perfect for Billbe.

"Brayden made the most improvement in his game between his junior year and senior year of any player I have ever coached, just a quantum leap," said Pepple. "He is a great fit for American University and I think he will continue to work to get better."

Coming to American from Highland Springs High School in Richmond, Va., is Andre Ingram, who was selected as the Associated Press Group AAA Player of the Year. Ingram led Highland Springs to the Virginia League High School Group AAA championship this past season, the first title in school history. For the year he averaged 22.8 points and 9.5 rebounds and was outstanding from three-point land, where he shot 49 percent. For the second year in a row, Ingram was named the Capital District Player of the Year, first team all-Central Region and All-Metro. As a junior, Ingram averaged 27.2 points per game.

"Andre is a complete person as well as player," said Highland Springs head coach George Lancaster. "I think he will make an impact on American University's basketball program sooner than many people think."

The final member of the class is Sekou Lewis, a standout wing player who improved his game by prepping for a year at The Pendleton School in Florida. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Lewis played his high school basketball at St. Vincent-St. Mary's with LeBron James.

Aside from his high school experience, Lewis also played for the Cleveland Basketball Club, which is coached by Mike Duncan. Lewis is a very good athlete who will compete for time at the small forward position as a freshman.

The 2002-03 season culminated one of the best two-year periods in the history of American University basketball. They won the Patriot League regular season title last year, and finished second this season, making it to the championship game both years. AU has won 34 games over the last two years, the best two-year period in Eagle basketball in nearly 15 years. Senior Steve Miles was named to the 2002-03 Patriot League Men's Basketball First-Team, while Glenn Stokes was second-team and Raimondas Petrauskas made the All-Rookie squad.