A Look at Southern Utah Signee AJ Hess

Earlier this month, Southern Utah announced the signing of 6'6'' guard AJ Hess to their recruiting class. He joins four other signees for first year coach Nick Robinson.

Hess put up nice numbers in high school, with 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 2.4 steals, and 2.4 assists per game, while winning the state championship at his high school. He was the Player of the Year for Arizona's small schools, so certainly there is some question about his level of competition (if he were putting those numbers up against big-time high school programs, he likely would not have been available so late).

"We are excited and fortunate to welcome AJ to the Thunderbird family at this time of year," Robinson said. "He comes from a great family and has been taught well by his coaches. Having won a high school championship earlier this year, A.J.'s versatility and competitive nature adds depth to our team as we enter the Big Sky."

Nobody knows Arizona basketball as well as Chad Groth of Area Codes Basketball, and they wrote about him here.

At 190 pounds, AJ Hess is 6 foot 6 and can really shoot the long range jumper, after his senior season at Phoenix Country Day High School in Phoenix, AZ, We thought it was best to keep playing thru the Spring and Summer and something will pop.

Hess is long and wiry, and Groth notes that Hess has been working with a strength and conditioning coach. It is tough to tell how physically ready Hess is, but he would seem to have a solid skillset to eventually be a contributor at the Big Sky level.

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