Nov. 11, 2004

FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU head basketball coach Neil Dougherty has announced that four players, three prep stars and one transfer, have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Horned Frogs beginning in the 2005-06 season. The Horned Frogs still have one scholarship slot available in the 2005 class.

The first of two area stars to sign in the class is Dallas Hunter, who hails from Plano, Texas. Hunter, a 6-5, 200-pounder, averaged 18.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 blocks per game as a junior at Plano East High School. He was a first-team District 9-5A selection as a junior and was the district's underclassman of the year as a sophomore. Hunter is rated as the No. 18 prospect in Texas by Mike Kundstadt's Texas Basketball Review and is ranked 25th in the state according to Rivals.com. He selected TCU over Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Tulsa.

In addition, local product Clarence Masters (Cedar Hill, Texas/Cedar Hill H.S.) has inked with the Horned Frogs. Masters, 6-5, 200, is rated as the No. 38 senior in the state according to Texas Basketball Magazine. He plays for one of the state's top high school programs, and last year helped Cedar Hill to a 35-2 record and a runner-up finish at state in Class 5A. He averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a junior. Masters chose TCU over Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.) and Tulsa.

Aliou Kane, a 6-10, 245-pound player who is currently a sophomore at Collin County (Texas) Community College, will have two seasons of eligibility in Fort Worth beginning in 2005-06. He played one year for Minnesota of the Big 10 Conference, averaging 0.5 points and 0.6 rebounds per game in 17 games as a true freshman. Kane earned first-team all-state and all-conference honors during his junior and senior seasons at Blue Ridge Prep School in Virginia, and was a four-star prospect coming out of high school. He picked TCU over SMU, Texas A&M and St. John's.

Another big man joining the Horned Frogs will be 6-9, 270-pound Allen Taylor of Irmo, S.C. Taylor was an all-state player as a junior at Irmo High School after averaging 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots per game. This summer he participated in the Nike All-American Camp and the Nike Peach Jam Tournament. He elected to come to TCU over Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and Penn State.

"We're really happy that we could get four quality players in this class," Dougherty said. "They definitely indicate the direction that our recruiting is going. We are very excited that they have chosen to become members of the Horned Frog family."

-www.GoFrogs.com-