April 26, 2006
Pocatello, ID --- He has a coaching staff, and now he has his first signed recruit. Austin Kilpatrick, a 6-6 shooter from Puyallup, Washington, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Bengals for the 2006-07, becoming the first recruit officially signed by new head coach Joe O'Brien.
Kilpatrick led 4A Puyallup High School in scoring (19 ppg), rebounding (9 rpg), and blocks (3 bpg) in earning First Team All-Puget Sound League honors. Kilpatrick, who led the SPSL in blocked shots last year, was named team MVP this past season. Kilpatrick is also a sound three-point shooter, averaging 42 percent from beyond the arc.
As a sophomore, Austin was named Honorable Mention All-SPSL, and he was voted to the all-star team at the 2003 Cage Scope Camp in Lexington, Kentucky.
Basketball runs in the Kilpatrick family, as Austin's father Carl was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in 1978 in the eighth round after a career at Louisiana-Monroe.
Kilpatrick also is a solid academic student, scoring a 1400 on his SAT. Said O'Brien of his first recruit, "Austin Kilpatrick brings good size to our backcourt, he is an outstanding passer, and he will be a good addition to our basketball team. He's a guy who uses his height advantage defensively, and he can play either the shooting guard and small forward spots. He should be able to play the kind of basketball we need to be successful."
