ORU Men's Basketball Signs Two During Early Signing Period

Oral Roberts men's basketball coach Scott Sutton says he's received letters of intent from Dederick Lee and Bobby Word who will play for the Golden Eagles starting in the 2013-14 season. The signings come at the start of the NCAA's early signing period.

A three-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, Lee faxed in his LOI on Wednesday, signing to play for ORU after spending time playing for Coach Tony Davis at Clarksville HS in Clarksville, Ark. The 6-2 guard led Clarksville to a pair of 4A State Championships and averaged more than 28 points per game as a sophomore. The son of Frederick Lee, Dederick was also recruited by Missouri State, Creighton, Florida State, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Arkansas. He is a two-time all-state selection, including earning MVP honors, and has been all-conference three times. Lee chose to play for ORU because he "like the proximity to home, the Christian atmosphere and the coaching staff."

Word is a 6-3 shooting guard from Lancaster, Texas, who earned All-District honors at Lancaster High School. He averaged 17 points per game for Coach Ferrin Douglas and the LHS Tigers and was also recruited by schools such as LIU, Weber State, Santa Clara, Northeastern and Santa Barbara. The son of Bobby Word, Sr., and Alesia Word, ORU became his school of choice because "the coaches treated me like family."