FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason head men's basketball coach Paul
Hewitt is
pleased to announce the addition of Marko
Gujanicic to the Patriots' 2012 recruiting class. Gujanicic,
a 6'9"
forward, signed his National Letter of Intent today and will join
the team for
the upcoming 2012-13 season.
A native of Cacak, Serbia, Gujanicic most
recently played at
Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., where he averaged nearly
17 points and
more than ninerebounds and six assists per game. A 58 percent
shooter including
a 40 percent mark from 3-point range, Gujanicic is a versatile
post player who
has the ability to shoot from beyond the arc as well as put the
ball on the
floor. Gujanicic helped lead Stoneridge to a 25-win season this
year, earning
team MVP honors and a selection as one of the top five prep
players on the West
Coast.
"We are very excited to have Marko joining our
program,"
said Hewitt. "He is an
outstanding
student who will add a lot of versatility to our front court. I
first saw him
as a starter for the U19 Serbian team last summer in Latvia, and
followed him
to Stoneridge Prep this year where he had an outstanding season as
one of their
top scorers and rebounders. Our entire staff did a great job in
getting Marko
to choose George Mason."
Gujanicic also has accumulated extensive
international
playing experience, representing his home country at the 2011 FIBA
U19 World
Championship in Latvia. In nine games of competition against
international
opponents, Gujanicic averaged 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds,
shooting better than
49 percent from the field. Included among his performances was a
16-point, four
steal and four rebound outing facing the United States squad led
by Coach
Hewitt.
"Marko is the ultimate skill player for any
level of
Division I basketball," said Stoneridge coach Les Bean. "He is an
excellent
player and excellent teammate, can do anything and can be a size
mismatch on
the floor.
"He had so many options but as soon as Coach
Hewitt and
Coach [Roland] Houston started talking to him, the level of
professionalism and
selling the program really turned heads with me, Marko, and his
family and
friends," Bean added. "I have such a level of respect to see Coach
Hewitt and
Coach Houston recruiting the right way, and I think that's why
Mason got the
quality of player in Marko that they did."
Gujanicic selected Mason over offers from many
other schools
including Virginia Tech, Cal, USC and Texas-El Paso. He will join shooting guard
Patrick Holloway
(Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) in the Patriots' freshman class, after
Holloway signed
his NLI with Mason in November. Holloway led his Panthers team to
a 35-3 record
and titles in the WCAC, the City Title and the Virginia private
schools
championship. He was recently named the Washington
Post All-Met Player of the Year for his efforts.