April 22, 2014

Benson adds three to 2014 signing class

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men’s basketball coach Chuck Benson has announced the signing of a pair of Siegel High School guards and a guard from East Forsyth High School in North Carolina.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson has announced the signing of a pair of Siegel High School guards and a guard from East Forsyth High School in North Carolina.

Charles Clark and Ryan Jones join the program from Siegel High School, while Larry Curry comes to Mossy Creek from East Forsyth.

Charles Clark is a 6-3 guard out of Siegel High School who was coached by Ben Dotson. While with the Stars, Clark scored 1,510 points in his high school career en route to a McDonald's All-American nomination.

His senior year, Clark averaged 17.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was a three-time All-District 7-AAA and All-Region 4-AAA selection. He earned all-state honors his senior season and all-state tournament honors his junior year.

"Charles Clark can give us lots of athleticism and length as well as an ability to score the ball," Benson said. "He's so used to winning; he will enter and contribute to the culture of the program that we've built. He can drive, score and shoot."

Clark is the son of Sarah Clark. He is undecided on a major at C-N. His nickname is Bird.

Ryan Jones is a 5-10 point guard and high school teammate of Clark. Together, they helped Siegel to a 61-8 record in their final two seasons. Their junior year, the duo helped the Stars to a final four appearance. Jones and Clark guided Siegel to the Elite Eight as seniors.

"Ryan Jones is the consummate point guard," Benson said. "What sets him apart is that he may be one of the most fiercely competitive guys I've ever met. I've never been big on the will to win, but then I met this guy. He will impact our program from day one."

Jones scored 1,151 points in his career while averaging a team-best 17.36 points and 7.9 boards a game in his senior season. Jones is a two-time All-District 7-AAA, All-Region 4-AAA and All-State honoree. He was the district and region MVP in his senior year. Much like Clark, he earned all-state tournament honors his junior year.

He is the son of Chelsie Jones and is undecided on a major at C-N. His nickname is Lil Man.

Larry Curry – a 6-3, 190-pound guard for head coach Mike Muse at East Forsyth – led EFHS to its first 20-win season in 36 years. He helped the Eagles to a Piedmont Triad 4A conference championship – just the fifth title in school history.

As a senior, Curry was the Eagles' co-captain the program's leading scorer (19.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.1 rpg). He also dished out a team best 3.7 assists per game.

"For us to come away with Larry, we're shocked," Benson said. "He's a physical specimen. Pound for pound, he may be the most physically put together player in this league. He's explosive and can score the ball well. He's an established winner."

Curry is a three-time all-conference selection. He earned North Carolina All-District 7 honors his senior year and was an All-Forsyth County pick after his junior campaign. He was the Piedmont Triad 4A Conference co-Player of the Year at the end of his senior season.

He scored at least 15 points on all but five occasions out of 26 games in his senior year. He had a pair of 30 point games, seven 20 point games and then scored 19 points five other times. Curry connected on 56 percent of his field goals and 42 percent of his threes.

He scored 70 points in 24 hours in back-to-back road games at Northwest Guilford (36 points) and Glenn (34 points) all while chipping in 13 rebounds.

Benson said that all three players share one thing, exceptional high school coaches.

"The thing that's great about all these kids is the experiences they had in high school," Benson said. "Ben Dotson has built a proven winner at Siegel High School that's as good as anyone in the state of Tennessee. Then you've got Mike Muse at East Forsyth, you know Larry will be as prepared as you possibly can be. And that's true for all our signees."

Jones, Clark and Curry join Sequoyah High School's Taylor Hawkins and Cookeville High School's Mason Bates to bring C-N's 2013-14 signing class up to five.