ODU Signs 7-3 Center From Tasmania Alex Loughton of Perth Australia, ODU’s 6-9 center/forward who led the Monarchs in both scoring and rebounding his sophomore season for coach Blaine Taylor, will get some help under the boards from a fellow countryman next season in the form of 7-3, 260-pound center Sam Harris (Newnham, Tasmania), a member of the Australian under-20 national team. Taylor announced the signing of Harris and another highly touted player, Brandon Johnson of Orlando, Fla., this spring. Harris plays for the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport, where he has had games of 20 and 28 points. He was a member of the under-20 national team which won a gold medal in last summer’s World Championships in Greece. “Sam obviously has tremendous physical presence. As he develops we think that presence will certainly be felt on both ends of the court,” said Taylor, whose Monarchs finished the 2003-04 season with a 17-12 record. Johnson, at 6-1, 175 pounds, led Edgewater High School to the Florida 6A state championship. The team was ranked No. 7 nationally by USA Today. Johnson averaged 12.4 points, 6.4 assists and 6.2 rebounds his senior year. He completed his career at Edgewater with 1,040 points and 522 assists. “Brandon is a pure point guard who brings nice size and a winning attitude to his position,” Taylor said. “His all-around abilities are very evident and yet his ability to get to the paint, or keep an opponent from getting to the paint, really caught our eye.” Harris and Johnson join fall signee Jason Thompson (Chatham, N.C.), a 6-6 forward who was the North Carolina 1A Player of the Year. Thompson averaged 25.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and was a second-team Associated Press All-State selection (the only 1A player on the team). He completed his career with 2,140 points, which ranks 14th in North Carolina State High School history. “When you sign someone in the fall, you hope they have a great senior year, and he did,” said Taylor. “If there is a common theme to this class, it would be that they are bigger, quicker and more athletic, which will help us to be better able to defend everywhere on the court. This is a very solid group of young men who I think will add to our program’s strength both on and off the court.”