Give And Go

For as long as he can remember, David Sloan has been making passes.

His "true point guard mentality" as John A. Logan head coach Kyle Smithpeters said of his sophomore is part of the reason why he received honorable mention All-American honors this season where he led the nation in assists for the second straight year.

Now that his playing days are done, there were a handful of Division 1 college teams that made sure they didn't pass up on the Louisville, Ky., native.

After a lengthy recruiting process, Sloan made his official announcement to sign with Kansas State University late last week.

"I'm very excited for David, who has worked very hard to get these opportunities," Smithpeters said. "We have asked everything of him and he's been a great leader on and off the court. He's excited as well. The recruiting process has been long, but he's done a great job of vetting everyone and I think in the end, he was very comfortable with the Kansas State staff and how they do things."

There is the Southern Illinois University connection as former SIU head coach Bruce Weber now runs the ship in Manhattan, and is assisted by Chris Lowery and Brad Korn, both of whom are Saluki basketball alumni.

"I think when coach Weber sat down and recruited David, the one thing that impressed them was his demeanor, his speed and his ability to pass, but when you talk to him, you are also impressed with the person he is. All of that being said, it's hard to find a true point guard and that's what David is - through and through - which makes him very valuable for any program."

This past season, Sloan averaged 10.2 assists to go along with 16.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while leading Logan to a record of 27-5 and a ranking of fifth nationally.

At season's end, Sloan was selected to play in an All-Star game on May 18 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Prior to signing with Kansas State, Sloan was being recruited by Cincinnati, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Iowa State, Georgetown and Wichita State.

"I think he's excited that the recruiting process is over," Smithpeters said. "He had to vent through some really good coaches and program, which is a long and stressful process, but him being happy is what I am most excited about.

"At the end of the day, it's their decision and David made a very valuable decision from the standpoint that he can go somewhere where he can play and play right away."

Sloan joins three other Vols that have signed National Letter of Intents at the end of the year.

Earlier, Jonah Jackson signed to play at Drake, while Vonnie Patterson is headed to East Tennessee State and Chris Harris will be more nearby at Southeast Missouri State University.

Those four join a long list of guys like Devontavious Payne (ETSU), Jaiveon Eaves (Murray State), Derek Hawthorne (UT Martin), Ronnie Carson (University of Missouri St. Louis) and Aaron Twist (Purdue Northwestern) that have gone on to four-year institutions.

"The great thing about all those guys is not only did they come here and get their academic work done, but they produced on the basketball end as well," Smithpeters said. "They are going places and making an impact and they came here to get a great education and produce on the basketball floor. That's all you can ask for as a head coach."

Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.