As The Clock Ticks, Some Sign with Jucos

When the snow was falling, it seemed like it would be forever before we would get to the National Letter of Intent spring signing period for Division I schools. Now it's just five days away and some players are deciding that perhaps more time is the answer.

And for some that means a junior college. Three players have recently signed on the dotted line.

Up here in the Baltimore - Washington area where we've gone through a real winter for the first time in almost a decade, two players from Annapolis are heading to Polk Community College in Winter Haven, Florida. Laronja Owens, a 6-1, 190 guard, will be joining the Vikings. Owens, who for the second straight year was the Washington Post's Anne Arundel County Player of the Year, averaged 22.4 points, 5.2 assists and four rebounds for the 23-3 Panthers. Owens also was named to the Baltimore Sun's All-Metro first team.

Also headed to Polk is 6-6 forward Josh Johnson who averaged 19.9 points and 12.9 rebounds at Annapolis. He was named to the Post's Anne Arundel County first team. Both Johnson and Owens also play with the Baltimore Select AAU program.

Both players will be in action on Sunday, Apr. 13 in the Charlie Weber Charm City Classic at Towson University. Johnson will play with the Suburban All-Stars in the preliminary game and Owens will take the court for the Baltimore All-Stars in the feature game against the U.S. Stars. Owens will also compete in the preliminary game of the Jordan Capital Classic on Thurs. Apr. 17th at the MCI Center in our nation's capital.

The third player is Stephen Haynes, a 6-2, 180 pound shooting guard from Bunker Hill High School in Claremont, NC. Friday, he signed with Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in North Carolina. He had been recruited by High Point, UNC-Greensboro, Radford, VCU, and Division II UNC-Pembroke.

"Hopefully I can attend there and then transfer into a D1 school after my

sophomore year," he said. "It's close to my home."

This season Haynes averaged 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and 58 charges drawn.