Milligan inks recruits in soccer, basketball

from staff reports

   Former Science Hill standout Brandon Kind has signed a letter of intent to play soccer next season for Milligan College.
   Kind, who started his college career at King College, is currently enrolled at East Tennessee State University. He will transfer as a junior academically, but will have three more years to participate in athletics at Milligan.
   Kind helped Science Hill all the way to the state tournament before falling in the title game as a junior. His high school career ended with an upset loss to Morristown East in the 2000 regional finals.
   "Brandon is one of the quality players from the 2000 Science Hill team," said Milligan head coach Marty Shirley. "He is a very solid outside midfielder and will make an immediate impact for us next season.
   "Brandon is an attack-oriented player with a nose for the goal. He will be an outside weapon for us in the future."
   Said Kind: "I am very excited to be here and look forward to helping the team anyway I can. I have very high expectations for the team and myself for next season. They were very close last season to advancing to the regional, and hopefully we can achieve that goal this year."
   In his only year at King, Kind was second on the team in points as a midfielder.
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   North Buncombe's Pike inks with Buffs
   Justin Pike, a 6-6 star forward for North Buncombe High School in Weaverville, N.C., has signed a letter of intent to attend Milligan College and play basketball for the Buffs.
   Pike, North Buncombe's second all-time leading scorer with 1,349 points, averaged 17.2 points and seven rebounds per game this past season for Coach David Rhoney and the Blackhawks.
   He is a 3-time Mountain Athletic Conference all-star selection and was selected to the All-Western North Carolina team as a senior.
   Pike was also chosen to play in the Western North Carolina all-star Blue-White game in April. Pike helped lead North Buncombe to an outstanding 64-41 record during his four-year varsity career and a conference championship in 1999-2000.
   Milligan head coach Tony Wallingford is pleased to have Pike join the Milligan program.
   "We like Justin's versatility," Wallingford said. "He is a good athlete with solid basketball skills who can swing from the post to the perimeter and visa versa. With our program experiencing heavy graduation this year, Justin will have an opportunity to contribute right away."
   Pike, an outstanding student with a 3.53 GPA, will graduate with honors from North Buncombe. He plans a major in either business or secondary education at Milligan.