EAST STROUDSBURG - Head coach Jeff Wilson has announced the names of seven student-athletes who will join the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball program for the 2009-10 season.

The Warriors' recruiting class of five forwards and two guards joins a group of seven returning letterwinners from last year's squad that went 16-11. ESU has won at least 16 games in each of the last four seasons for the first time in program history and has made three PSAC tournament appearances in that stretch.

"This year's recruiting class will greatly upgrade our athleticism and length which will be beneficial in our running, pressing style," Wilson said. "They will give us options and ability to play both offensively and defensively as we continue to build our program."

The class includes forward Terrance King (East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg North), the Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year, and also draws heavily from the Philadelphia area with two Associated Press All-State selections, forward Duane Johnson (Lansdale/Penn Wood) and forward Marcus Brown (Philadelphia/Engineering and Science). Both Johnson and Brown were selected to play in the All-Star Labor Classic game and were rated among the top 1,000 seniors at the high school level in the nation by HoopScoop.com, with Johnson ranked 584 and Brown at 829.

The rest of the class includes guard Gerald Bridges, Jr. (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS), forward Dan Clapp (Chichester/Chichester), forward Andre Howard (Philadelphia/Engineering and Science) and junior college guard Micah Covert (Philadelphia/Chester HS/Harcum JC).

Johnson was a second team AAAA All-State and second team District I selection after leading Penn Wood to the state championship last spring. He had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the state championship game and was the team's leading scorer (13.7 ppg), rebounder (7.0 rpg) and shot blocker (1.9 bpg) and captain as a senior while playing for head coach Clyde Jones. Penn Wood finished the year as the top-ranked team in Pennsylvania and 29th in the nation by MaxPreps.com.

Brown was first team All-State at the AAA level and was first team All-Public and third team All-City in Philadelphia. He scored 20.1 points per game as a senior and 1,107 points in his career. Brown and Howard helped Engineering and Science, coached by C.M. Brown, to two straight District playoff appearances.

Bridges, Jr. comes to ESU from University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Detroit, where he was first team All-Catholic League and a team captain for head coach Pat Donnolly. He averaged 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and shot 42 percent from the three-point line last season.

Clapp was a second team Delaware Valley League forward with 12.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game and scored 928 career points for head coach Tom Dougherty at Chichester.

King was a two-time All-Mountain Valley Conference first team selection and the MVC Player of the Year as a senior at East Stroudsburg North. He posted 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game and had 893 career points and 689 rebounds under head coach Kevin Kennedy.

Covert rounds out the recruiting class after playing two years for head coach Drew Kelly at Harcum Junior College in Bryn Mawr, which made the semifinals of last year's national Division I Junior College tournament. He helped Chester High School to the state championship game as a senior and is the nephew of former Chester head coach Fred Pickett.

The Warriors will open the 2009-10 season on Sunday, November 15 with a 1 p.m. tip against Penn State-Schuylkill. The rest of the schedule includes appearances in tournaments at Shippensburg and Caldwell and the ESU Pocono Classic on December 4-5. The PSAC East schedule begins on January 13 with a trip to defending divisional champion Kutztown.

2009-10 ESU men's basketball recruiting class

Gerald Bridges, Jr. - F, 6-5, 200, Detroit, Mich./U. of Detroit Jesuit HS
Marcus Brown - F, 6-5, 205, Philadelphia/Engineering and Science
Dan Clapp - F, 6-7, 215, Chichester/Chichester
Micah Covert - G (Jr.), 6-1, 180, Philadelphia/Chester HS/Harcum JC
Andrew Howard - F, 6-6, 200, Philadelphia/Engineering and Science
Duane Johnson - F, 6-5, 180, Lansdale/Penn Wood
Terrance King - F, 6-6, 215, East Stroudsburg/ES North