May 16, 2001

CHAMPAIGN, ILL -- University of Illinois men's basketball coach Bill Self announced today that junior college star Blandon Ferguson signed a national letter of intent to play for the Fighting Illini.

Ferguson, a 6-foot-3-inch, 220-pound swing player from the College of Southern Idaho, is the third student-athlete to sign a letter of intent with Illinois this year following high school stars Roger Powell and Luther Head in November. Ferguson becomes the first California native to join the Illinois basketball team since 1924 when Orange, Calif.-native Glenn Potter finished his career for the Illini.

"Blandon is an athletic wing player who can score from several areas of the floor and is a very good rebounder for his size," Self said. "He comes from an great junior college background at Southern Idaho under Coach Derek Zeck. Southern Idaho annually plays one of the toughest junior college schedules in the nation, and Blandon established himself over the last two years to be one of the outstanding players in the country."

Ferguson is a native of Oakland, Calif., and attended St. Joseph Notre Dame High School before attending CSI. He led the Golden Eagles in scoring last year with an average of 14.4 points per game, while grabbing an average of 5.6 rebounds per game. He led CSI in scoring 14 times and in rebounding six times last year. Ferguson was named to the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) first-team all-conference and All-Region 18 teams last year and was a third-team NJCAA All-American.

"Blandon is a great kid who is a big, strong, athletic wing player that can defend the one through four positions," Zeck said. "He can shoot the three and score off the dribble. Blandon's a Sergio McClain-type of player who can do a lot of things for you to help the team win."

As a freshman at CSI, Ferguson led the team in rebounds eight times and was named to the SWAC all-tournament team. In high school, he was ranked in the Top 50 players in the nation following his senior year at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School. He was a high school honorable mention All-American and Street & Smith's first-team all-state pick. As a sophomore and junior, his high school team placed second in the state tournament.

Southern Idaho posted a 29-4 record last season and is the winningest junior college basketball program in the nation. The Golden Eagles lost to Dixie State by one point in the regional final in 2001 after advancing to the NJCAA national tournament in 2000. Dixie State went on to finish third at the 2001 national tournament. In its 35-year history, the CSI men's basketball program has recorded 994 wins and just 176 losses, good enough for an .850 winning percentage. The Golden Eagles have made the trip back to the national tournament 19 times, bringing home the national title twice and hardware 11 times.