Basketball - M | 12/10/2014 11:39:00 AM

BURNABY, B.C. – Three athletes with British Columbia basketball roots have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball for the Simon Fraser University men's program, head coach James Blake announced today.
 
Graham Smith, a 6-foot-5 forward from Maple Ridge, Graham Miller, a 6-foot-6 guard from Coquitlam, and Vancouver native Max Barkeley, a 6-foot-2 guard with Victor Valley College in California, have all committed to play basketball with the Clan next season.
 
Graham Smith
 
Smith is averaging 29-points, 24 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game this season with Pitt Meadows Senior Secondary. Last year as a grade 11 student, Smith broke the 24-year-old PMSS record for most points in season with 1,401, averaging 25.9 ppg. Smith is also a four-time BC provincial team member (U14, U15, U16 and U17), leading Team BC in scoring, rebounding and assists at the U17 Canadian National Championship.
 
"Graham has worked hard to develop his skill-set over the last couple of seasons to become one of the best players in the province," said Blake. "Graham has good vision and he is a very good passer who is going to fit our pass ahead, high pace system."
 
Smith is an honour roll student who has been named PMSS Athlete of the Year four times.
 
"My mom, dad and sister are all SFU graduates and I'm interested in the university's business program," said Smith.
 
Graham Miller
 
Miller averages 25-points and nine rebounds per game and is team captain for Charles Best. He also captain's the school's soccer team and was named the school's athlete of the year in grades 9-11. Miller started alongside Graham Smith for Team BC at the U17 Canadian championship and they were teammates on the U15 and U16 provincial teams as well.
 
"Graham is a long athletic wing that can score the ball in a number of ways," said Blake. "He is the type of player that really fits our new high-paced scoring and full court pressure system."
 
Simon Fraser University is leading NCAA Division II in scoring averaging 126-points per game. Saturday the team defeated rival Western Washington Viking for the first time in 15 years.
 
"I wanted to play close to home and SFU has a great basketball program and a great computing science program," said Miller, an honours student. "My parents are SFU graduates and they value the education and degree I'm going to get. Plus they will still be able to watch me play at the next level."
 
Max Barkeley
 
Barkeley is a Vancouver product who attended high school and now junior college in California. He is averaging almost 12-points, 3.2 rebounds and nearly two assists in 12 minutes per game for Victor Valley, which plays a similar dribble drive attack system that Blake has implemented this season with the Clan.
 
"I wanted to find a school with a strong program and a high level of academics and Simon Fraser had a great combo," said Barkeley. "They push the ball and get a lot of shots up. I was really excited about that. There's no real learning curve because we play a similar style at Victor Valley."
 
As a freshman last year Barkeley averaged 16.5 ppg and shot 39.3 percent from three-point range.
 
"Max has developed into one of the best shooters in the CCCAA and he will help us to replace some of the scoring punch from behind the 3 point arc we will lose when Justin and Sango graduate next year," said Blake. "Max is a high energy run and gunner who has extended his range and scoring ability at Victor Valley."
 
Victor Valley competes in the California Community College Athletic Association, the same league that current Clan players Sango Niang, Justin Cole, Roderick Evans-Taylor and Pape Seck played in prior to joining SFU.
 
SFU entertains Capilano University on Dec. 16 (7 p.m.) at the West Gym.