Bunn to play for Quakers

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on June 7, 2006 1:47 PM

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Guilford College has landed some of Rosewood's top football talent over the last several years.

Now the Quakers can add an Eagles' basketball player -- Kyle Bunn -- to their list of signees.

Bunn, a 6-foot-3, 160-pound guard, said he liked the small-school atmosphere of the Division III school and the fact that Guilford showed the most interest in his game.

"I had a decent year last year as a junior, but nothing like this year. So my name wasn't out there as much to many colleges," Bunn said. "With the help of coach (Daniel) Mitchell, we sent my stuff out to different schools. Guilford was the first to return our letters, and they were first on my list since day one."

Bunn, the first Rosewood player in at least a decade to play college basketball, averaged a team-high 19.3 points per game as a senior and knocked down 64 three-pointers. At 6-3, he proved to be a tough matchup for most guards in the Class 1-A Carolina Conference.

"He worked hard to get this opportunity, especially over last summer with his shooting. Everyday in practice, he went above and beyond what we could ask for him to do. He was one of the first ones here and last to leave," said Mitchell, who is also Bunn's brother. "We kept him at the two guard as much as we could to give him the opportunity to shoot over smaller players."

Bunn expects Guilford's staff to use him in more of the same fashion.

"They like my height. They'll probably try to post me up some and use me outside to shoot over smaller guards," he said.

In 2006, the Quakers (13-14 overall) finished 10-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference under third-year coach Tom Palombo. Guilford's fourth-place finish in the ODAC was its highest since joining the league in 1991. The Quakers return 13 letter winners from that team, including the conference's leading scorer Ben Strong (6-10, 220), who will be a junior next season.

"They like to push the ball, they are up-tempo," Bunn said. "They've got Strong, but just don't have shooters around him. That's one thing they liked about me."

Bunn praised his high school coaches, Rick Grantham and Mitchell, for having the Eagles prepared to often face teams with more overall talent and depth.

"We didn't have the caliber athletes of some of the teams we played, but Coach Grantham and Mitchell taught us to play the game hard and like we are supposed to," Bunn said. "We out-worked some teams and the coaches had a big part in that."

Bunn's 2006 classmate, Markas Brunson, recently signed to play football at Guilford, while Rosewood graduates, Troy Smith and Danny Langston are also on the Quakers' football team.