Eastern Washington signs 6-foot-8 forward from California

New Eastern Washington basketball coach Shantay Legans has signed his first recruit, a 6-foot-8 native of the Dominican Republic whose scoring and rebounding production resemble those of former EWU star Jacob Wiley.

Richard Polanco averaged 26.6 points and 16.0 rebounds as a senior at the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, Calif. to earn All-California Interscholastic Federation second team honors.

Polanco also was a CIF All-Academic selection and a first team All-Coastal League selection.

Polanco, a native of the Dominican Republic, is the first signee for Legans, who was introduced as EWU’s new head coach on March 29.

“We are excited to be adding Richard to our EWU family,” Legans said. “He is a tremendous young man, mentally and physically mature beyond his age.”

“Richard is a 6-8 player who can handle the ball, shoot, post up, and pass well. With his extreme versatility, along with the ability to play any position on the floor, he will fit in nicely with our style of play and with the great guys we already have,” Legans said.

Polanco played in 115 games in his career at Army and Navy, averaging 17.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He had career totals of 1,966 points and 947 rebounds with 203 assists, 70 steals and 25 blocked shots.

Rated “three stars” by ESPN, 247 and Scout, Polanco made 65 percent of his field goals in his career.