Bogan makes it official, signs with Jacksonville State University
CHARLESTON -- Following a win over Malden on Feb. 10, Charleston senior Delfincko Bogan let everyone know what his college intentions were.
On Thursday, he made it official.
The all-state guard signed his letter of intent to play basketball for Jacksonville State University, a four-year, Division I program in the Ohio Valley Conference, in Jacksonville, Ala.
"I got a feel of home," Bogan said after verbally committing to Jacksonville State through his twitter account in February. "I liked it because I saw a lot of great players with a lot of potential. I know with them I can make the team better."
Bogan (5-11) was named to the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association's Class 3 all-state team and was an All-SEMO Conference selection after leading the Bluejays to a 17-11 record. He averaged 26.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, four assists and 3.3 steals. He shot 48 percent from the field and was 69 percent from 3-point range. He was also an 81 percent free throw shooter.
"He has done a super job here. He's got a great attitude and he's a great student," Charleston head coach Danny Farmer said. "That's the biggest thing, what he does in the school environment. He never gets in trouble and you can see he's a Division I qualifier. That just leads to on the court things."
Bogan will be joining Cape Central's Andre Statam, who signed with the same school in November, and former Charleston Bluejay Greg Tucker, who transferred to JSU from Mineral Area College.
Joining his two friends is one of many reasons Bogan chose Jacksonville State.
"Knowing that I have people that I know and people that will have my back," said Bogan. "I think we can turn the basketball program around."
Statam (6-6) was Cape Central's second leading scorer and another All-SEMO Conference selection. He averaged 18.1 points and 12.7 rebounds a game. Tucker, who led Charleston to a Class 3 state championship in 2012, helped Mineral Area to a Region 16 championship by averaging 11.8 points and 3.2 rebound for the Cardinals last season.
Bogan was a freshman and played a small role on the varsity team when Tucker helped give Charleston its 11th state championship in school history.
"We didn't plan it," Bogan said about the three local players attending JSU. "I knew if (Tucker) was going, then Andre, those are friends of mine, that's why I wanted to go."
Added Farmer about the possibility of Bogan and Tucker playing together, "I think they'll play well together. They both know the game and they play the game the way it should be played."
Instrumental in bringing all three to Jacksonville was Charleston native and current assistant at JSU Ronnie Dean. The former Southeast Missouri State University assistant joined the JSU staff last season.
"He said I couldn't be scared to get out of my comfort zone," Bogan said about Dean's recruiting involvement. "I can't be scared to get away from home. Wherever you go you have to be 110 percent sure that you want to go there."
Bogan joins a Gamecock team that finished last season 12-19 that included an OVC record of 5-11. JSU lost to both OVC opponents SEMO and Murray State.
"It's a good conference and I think he fits in well," Farmer said. "All of our kids respect him and he makes the kids around him a lot better. If he gives himself a chance I don't think he'll have any problems. I think his game will come easier for him because he'll have better players around him and he won't have to work as hard, in my opinion. He'll have one thing to do."