Trojans add two more signees

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on July 20, 2008 1:32 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Montreal's Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayden's Tanner Carnes have signed national letters-of-intent to play men's basketball at Mount Olive College.

A 6-foot-7 forward from Archbishop Carroll (D.C.) High School, Mitrovic averaged 11 points and eight rebounds per game during his senior year.

"We are extremely excited to add Aleksandar to our program," said first-year MOC men's head coach Joey Higginbotham. "He will be an impact student-athlete for our program both on and off the court. He adds versatility to our lineup and also provides a strong defensive presence."

Carnes, a 6-5 forward, spent his freshman year at Lenoir Community College, where he earned All-Region X honors. He averaged 18.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. A graduate of Ayden-Grifton High School, Carnes was the Pitt County Player of the Year in his senior year.

"Tanner is a great individual and he comes from a great family," said Higginbotham. "He is a versatile player who can shoot from the outside. He'll also give us depth in multiple positions."

Mitrovic and Carnes join forwards Deshaune Green (Portsmouth, Va.) and Eric Williams (Goldsboro) and guard Derek Staton (Norfolk, Va.) on the roster.

Mount Olive lost three seniors to graduation off last year's Conference Carolinas regular-season and tournament championship teams. The Trojans finished 24-7 overall and advanced to the NCAA Division II East Regional for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year.