Brian Towey contributed to this report.
Last Thursday, Keion Mitchem, from East High School in Rochester, N.Y., signed with Texas Christian University, selecting the Mountain West Conference program over James Madison, Quinnipiac and St. Bonaventure.
Mitchem was named to the All-Greater Rochester Boys Basketball Team last month. The 5-foot-11 and 159 pound guard was a four-year starter at East and was All-City-Catholic following each season.
Mitchem, who visited the Forth Worth, Texas campus the first weekend in April, averaged 25 points, 8.5 assists, 3.1 steals and 4.0 rebounds per game as a senior. He recorded 1,162 career points.
James Reaves from the class of 2000 was the last Rochester native in Division I; he was an All-MAAC player at Niagara.
Mitchem told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
"I made a promise that I would have a signing day. I've always told my grandmother, and my aunts, that I was going to play Division I basketball.
"A lot of people doubted me, but I stayed motivated. The doubts were my motivation.
"[Athletic director Kathy Smith] gave me a booklet for me and my family to look through. It covered what a student-athlete needed to do academically (to qualify under NCAA rules).
"That's (no Rochester players in Div. I since class of 2000) what happens to athletes in the City School District, they fall through the cracks. My coaches, and first and foremost, my family, didn't let that happen.
"I'm thankful to have good people around me."
East coach Darrell Barley added, "I'm really proud of him, he worked hard."
The Horned Frogs signed 6-foot-10 Lucas Tauscher from Forth Worth and 6-foot-1 Jason Ebie from Houston, Texas this past November. After a 21-10 record in 2004-05, TCU was 6-25 last season under fourth year head coach Neil Dougherty.
Mitchem gets a ride from TCU