Bumpus officially signs

Utah State is replacing one junior college All-American with another.

Antonio Bumpus , as first reported by the Deseret News earlier this week, is an Aggie.

The third-team JC All-American from Harcum CC in Philadelphia signed his letter of intent Wednesday and will join Utah State next season.

He is the fourth junior college All-American in the past five seasons to sign with USU, joining Jared Quayle, Gary Wilkinson and Chaz Spicer.

“Utah State is a very good program and this will be a great opportunity for me to succeed both on and off the court,” said Bumpus. “I enjoyed my time with the coaches when I visited USU and I feel like it is a place where I can grow and improve as a basketball player.”

USU coach Stew Morrill said he expects Bumpus to add depth to the wing positions and possibly challenge for a lot of playing time this season.

“Antonio is an athletic wing scorer whose junior college success has prepared him well for Division I basketball,” said Morrill. “We are very excited about the qualities he brings to our program as a player, student and high-character individual. Antonio Bumpus is a fit for Utah State Basketball.”

Along with earning junior college All-American honors, Bumpus was also named the Region 19 Player of the Year as a sophomore as he scored in double-figures 27 times, including 13 20-point games and had a season-high 30 points twice. He finished the year by shooting 44.7 percent from the field (181-412), 37.1 percent from three-point range (79-213) and 73.0 percent at the free throw line (89-122).

Bumpus joins a recruiting class that includes Midland (Texas) College point guard Brockeith Pane, Los Alamitos (Calif.) HS point guard James Walker and Bingham High forward Ben Clifford.

The Aggies are still hoping to sign Mesa (Ariz.) CC small forward Stephen Rogers — a second team JC All-American. Rogers is visiting BYU this weekend and told the Deseret News he will decide between USU and BYU after the visit.