Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University head men’s basketball coach Brian Good has announced the signing of four student-athletes to study and play basketball at Wingate University. Ryan Daye (Burlington, N.C.), Josh Simmons (Irmo, S.C.), Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Michael Tyson (Kinston, N.C.) will join the Bulldog roster in the fall. Daye, Simmons and Tyson are rising freshmen, while Turman is a rising sophomore transfer from Robert Morris (Pa.) University.

“I would like to commend Akeem (Miskdeen) and Montel (Jones) for their hard work in recruiting this class,” Good says about his assistant coaches. “We had some needs as a team and I feel this group will address those areas.”

“Obviously, when one reads the biographies and statistics, one can deduce we have signed four highly skilled athletes,” Good says. “More importantly for us…we believe we have signed four terrific young men who will fit in well with the culture created by our current Bulldogs.”

Daye played his high school ball at The Elon School, where he scored 1,515 points over a three-year career. Daye helped his team achieve its first-ever NCISAA state play-off appearance. Daye scored a career-high 40 points in the aforementioned state playoff game. He was selected to the Burlington Times-News all-region first team. The son of Kyle and Devonia Daye, Ryan Daye comes to Wingate after playing last season at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., where he averaged 14 points per game and was named the team’s MVP.

Simmons joins the Wingate family as the second-highest scorer in Glenforest School (West Columbia, S.C.) history, amassing 2,780 points during his career. The three-time South Carolina Independent School Association Region 3A Player of the Year averaged 28.9 points, 14 rebounds and five assists per game as a senior.

A 6-5, 205-pound guard, Simmons was named to the all-state team on three occasions. In addition, he was selected as the 2011 All-Area Player of the Year by The State newspaper. Simmons won five varsity letters while playing for coach William Knopf at Glenforest. The son of Patricia Ellison, Simmons plans to major in Biology at Wingate.

Turman arrives at Wingate as a transfer from Robert Morris. The 6-8, 215-pound center played his high school ball at Mt. Lebanon, where he helped his team to the 2010 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League class 4A state title. Turman averaged 10.1 points per game and 12.9 rebounds per game while guiding his team to a 25-3 overall record as a high school senior. The son of Lisa Raymond, Turman saw action in 11 games last season for the RMU Colonials, scoring nine points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Tyson signs with Wingate from Kinston High School, where he was a two-year letter winner for coach Wells Gulledge. The future Business major led his team with 14.7 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game this past season. For his efforts, he was named the Kinston Free Press Player of the Year. The son of Earl Tyson, Jr. and Nadine Cobb, Tyson was a member of the 2010 Kinston High squad that won the N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) class 3A state championship.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a comprehensive university with more than 2,300 students on three campuses in Wingate, Matthews and Hendersonville, N.C. The university offers 32 undergraduate majors, 36 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, physician assistant studies and sports administration and doctorates in pharmacy and education.

Wingate students gain the tools and support they need to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. The campus community offers in-class learning, out-of-class experiences, strong mentors, a competitive yet caring environment and rewarding community service opportunities for a complete educational experience.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past five years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 38 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 47 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.

(Wingate University sports information student assistant Daniel Smith wrote this story. A Parks and Recreation Administration major from Oakboro, N.C., Smith received a B.S. degree at Wingate’s May 14 Commencement Exercises.)