EWU signs forward Kyle Reid of Los Angeles

Eastern Washington basketball coach Jim Hayford has added what he believes is a “difference-maker” in the Eagles’ frontcourt with the signing Wednesday of junior college transfer Kyle Reid of Los Angeles.

”He gives us a little more front-court athleticism,” Hayford said of Reid, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound power forward who teamed with Eastern star Tyler Harvey at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, Calif.

Reid spent the last two years at Los Angles Trade Tech Junior College, where he averaged 14.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots last season. He hit 49.6 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Reid will have two years of eligibility at Eastern. Hayford said he could have made a difference in several Big Sky Conference games last year that saw the Eagles short of depth as the starters battled foul trouble.

”We felt the one pressing need in the program was an athletic front-court player to provide full-court depth and match up against some of the better front-court players in the conference,” Hayford said. “Venky Jois can do that pretty well, but he needs help. Kyle Reid solves all those issues. We were really fortunate to sign him.” 

During the early signing period, Eastern signed guard Will Ferris out of Newport (Bellevue) High.

The Eagles return all 11 letter winners from last year’s team that finished 15-16 overall and 10-10 in the Big Sky.

• Braxton Tucker, who led North Idaho in scoring last season, signed with Portland State.

Tucker, of Tacoma, averaged 14.7 points per game for the Cardinals and was All-Scenic West Athletic Conference second-team selection.

• The Washington Huskies men’s basketball team added another guard, officially signing 6-foot-6 junior-college transfer Quevyn Winters.

Winters played last season at Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, Iowa) after playing his freshman season at Duquesne, where he averaged 9.6 points per game as a freshman. UW coach Lorenzo Romar describes him as a “dynamic shooter.”