The Eastern Washington University men's basketball program and new head coach David Riley have bolstered their program with four new additions, including a pair of transfers who have a collective total of 201 games of NCAA Division I experience, Riley announced Wednesday (April 28).
 
"I'm excited about the new class we have coming to EWU," said Riley. "We've got a mix of some experienced players joining us along with some talented freshmen. Everyone in our incoming class all share similar goals and are all about winning while improving every day."
 
Six-foot-6 guard Rylan Bergersen comes to Eastern from Central Arkansas where he played 54 games and was twice honored as a third team All-Southland Conference selection. He also played 50 games at BYU and is a former high school teammate of current Eastern point guard Ellis Magnuson at Borah High School in Boise, Idaho.
 
The other transfer is 6-7 forward Angelo Allegri, who played 97 games at UNC Greensboro and is formerly from Kansas City, Mo. He helped lead the Spartans to 72 victories overall and 41 in the Southern Conference, plus one league title, one NCAA Tournament appearance and one berth in the National Invitation Tournament.
 
Also joining the Eagles is third team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America selection Imhotep George, a 6-8 forward. He averaged 18.8 points with a high of 50 points while at Allegany College in Maryland, then played four games as a sophomore at Tallahassee CC in Florida.
 
The fourth addition is Casey Jones, a 6-6 forward who helped lead the Wasatch Academy (Utah) to the GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla. – a 10-team tournament which determines the national high school champion. Jones previously played for Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash., and was a first team All-KingCo selection as a sophomore when he averaged a double-double with 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
 
Riley said two new players who were announced last November are still expected to attend EWU next fall as freshmen. They include 6-2 guard Mason Landdeck, who is formerly from Zillah, Wash., and played the 2020-21 season for Desert Hills High School in Saint George, Utah. The other is Ethan Price, a 6-10 forward from Bury St. Edmunds in England.
 
 

Rylan Bergersen – G – 6-6 – 215 – Sr. – TR – Boise, Idaho / Borah HS / BYU / Central Ark.

David Riley on Bergersen: "Rylan brings us scoring and playmaking ability, but also a lot of experience at the Division I level. His personality fits right in with our guys, and his ability to play the game the right way will allow him to gel quickly with our team. I'm excited for Ry to finish out his college career as an Eagle, and can't wait to get to work with him."
 
Career: Bergersen has 104 games of collegiate experience, including 50 games at BYU and his last 54 at Central Arkansas where he was a two-time third team All-Southland Conference selection.
 
Central Arkansas: In his career at Central Arkansas, Bergersen had 877 points (16.2 average), 230 rebounds and 198 assists while making 81 three-pointers. He scored in double figures in 50 of his 54 career games at UCA, including 18 games of 20 points or more. His career highs were 26 points (vs. Abilene Christian), 12 rebounds (vs. Northwestern State), 11 assists (vs. NSU), five steals (vs. Memphis) and two blocked shots (five times).
 
Earned third team All-Southland Conference honors after averaging 16.9 points and 4.6 assists in the 2020-21 season for the Bears, who finished 5-19. Bergersen ranked third in the SLC in scoring and was second in assists, and made 38-of-111 three-point attempts for 34 percent. He played a team-high 34.5 minutes per game to lead the SLC, and he scored in double figures in 22 of 23 games. As a junior at UCA, Bergersen also earned third team All-SLC honors after he averaged 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists while making 43 three-pointers. In addition, he earned Southland Conference All-Academic honors while at UCA.
 
BYU: Played in 50 career games, with single game highs of eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
High School: Graduated from Borah High School in Boise, Idaho, in 2017.  He also played for Link Year Prep in Branson, Mo. He earned first team All-State honors as a senior at Borah, and was a second team pick as a junior. He averaged 15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a senior at Borah, and averaged 18 points, five rebounds and three assists at Link Year.  He helped lead Borah to the State 5A Tournament semifinals and a 23-3 record, and was a former high school teammate of fellow Eagle Ellis Magnuson ('19). Bergersen was Southern Idaho Conference Player of the Year in high school.

Personal: Will be working on his master's degree in education at EWU. Born 11/8/97 in Boise, Idaho. Parents are Roberto and Rhonda Bergersen. His father was a standout at Boise State University and was a second round NBA draft pick in 1999 by the Atlanta Hawks. He played professionally overseas and is a member of the BSU Hall of Fame. His mother played soccer at the University of Washington. Rylan's nickname is "Reezy."
 
 
 

Angelo Allegri – F – 6-7 – 215 – Sr. – TR – Kansas City, Mo. / St. Thomas Aquinas HS '17 / UNC Greensboro

David Riley on Allegri: "Angelo is as versatile as they come on both ends of the court, and really shoots it well. Most importantly, Angelo is a winner whose energy will be infectious with our team, and his impact will be felt in all aspects of the game. We are excited to get Angelo out to the Northwest and on Reese Court."
 
Career: Allegri comes to EWU with 97 games worth of experience in three seasons of collegiate basketball, including 38 starts. He played on teams which were 72-26 overall and 41-13 in the Southern Conference, and advanced to one NCAA Tournament and the NIT once.
 
UNC Greensboro: He helped lead UNC Greensboro to the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles in the 2020-21 season to finish 21-9 overall and 13-5 in league games. Allegri played in 30 games and started 26, helping the Spartans into the NCAA Tournament where it lost to Florida State 64-54 in the first round. He averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds, scoring in double figures seven times. He had a career best 19 points in a road win over Wofford on 1/6/21, and was second on the team with 48 3-pointers. He tied his career high with five 3-pointers made against Mercer. He started UNCG's last 24 games and had a high of eight rebounds twice.
 
In his sophomore season, Allegri appeared in all 32 games and started 12 of them. He averaged 7.6 points per game and made 49 three-pointers to rank second on the team. He sank six field goals with four 3-pointers to score a career-high 19 points at Wofford on 1/4/21. He finished the year with 10 performances scoring in double figures. The Spartans finished the season 23-9 and 13-5 in league play.

Allegri averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds as a freshman in the 2018-19 season when he had three games scoring in double figures. He made his collegiate debut on 11/6/18, and recorded his first collegiate double-digit scoring output with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals in a win over Greensboro College on 11/27/18. The Spartans finished the season 28-8 and were 15-3 in the Southern Conference. He earned academic honor roll honors there as well.
 
High School: Graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kan., in 2017. He spent his senior season at Link Prep in Branson, Mo., where he was coached by Roberto Bergersen. Prior to that he spent two years at St. Thomas Aquinas for coach John Rost. He collected first team All-State and All-Eastern Kansas honors as a junior. He averaged 20 points (with a high of 34) and seven rebounds per game as a junior, and was a Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year nominee. He helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas to a league championship along with a school-record 24-4 record. In AAU basketball, he was a member of KC Run GMC/Team KC, which advanced to the Under Armour Association Finals. Allegri also earned academic honor roll recognition in high school. Coached by Sean Reilly.
 
Personal: Interested in majoring in economics at Eastern. Born 4/28/99 in Kansas City, Mo. Parents are Eric Uzomah and KarenMarie Allegri. Nickname is "Gelo."
 
 

 
Imhotep George – F – 6-8 – 195 – Jr. – JC – Laurel, Md. / Meade HS '18 / Allegany College (Md.) / Tallahassee CC  (Fla.)

David Riley on George: "Tap is a talented shooting wing who can guard multiple positions. He has all the tools necessary to be a high level player in the Big Sky and he has a great mindset that will get him there. The sky is the limit for Tap, and I know he is ready to come out to Cheney and get started."
 
Tallahassee CC: Played four games in the 2020-21 season at Tallahassee CC in Florida, averaging 2.3 points and 2.5 rebounds.
 
Allegany College (JC): Played the 2019-20 season at Allegany College in Maryland where he earned third team All-America honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). He also earned first team All-Region 20 honors and second team All-State honors after averaging 18.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and two blocked shots per game. He sank 44.8 percent of his field goal attempts, including 36 percent from the 3-point arc. On February 10, 2020, Imhotep scored 50 points against Butler County Community College, breaking a more than 52-year-old school record of 47 points. He was named the NJCAA National Player of the Week following the record-breaking game.
 
High School: Graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kan., in 2017. He averaged 3.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in high school, while making 41 percent of his shots overall and 38 percent from 3-point range. He also played AAU basketball for Team Thrill.
 
Personal: Major is undecided. Born 1/26/2000 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Parents are Roger George and Wenda Marcelle. Nickname is "Tap."
 
 
 

Casey Jones – F – 6-6 – 210 – Fr. – HS – Sammamish, Wash. / Wasatch Academy (Utah)

David Riley on Jones: "Casey plays the game the right way and is a jack of all trades on the court. His strength and athleticism will be invaluable for our program, and his toughness will make him a leader right from the start. Casey has experience playing at the highest level of high school basketball and that has helped prepare him for this next step in his career."
 
High School: Will graduate from Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, in 2021. Helped lead his team to an 18-7 record in the 2020-21 season while playing other basketball academies nationwide. Wasatch was one of 10 teams who competed in the GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla., to determine the national high school champion, and the Tigers lost as the No. 10 seed to No. 2 Compass Prep from Chandler, Ariz., in the quarterfinals. Jones averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game as a senior. He scored in double figures three times with a high of 16, and his top rebounding performance was eight on two occasions. He also had 15 blocked shots with a high of three. He made 59 percent of his shots overall from the field (40-of-68), including single game performances of 5-of-5, 6-of-6 and 4-of-4 during a stretch in which he sank 21-straight shots. He sank 68 percent of his two-point attempts.
 
Jones previously played for Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash. As a sophomore in the 2018-19 season, he averaged 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.1 steals per game as the Wolves finished 7-15 overall and 4-8 in the 4A KingCo League. He led the league in both scoring and rebounding and earned first team All-KingCo honors. He scored at least 20 on 14 occasions, with a high of 28 once and 27 twice. He was a 50 percent shooter from inside the 3-point arc (112-of-222) and sank 28 percent from the 3-point stripe (32-of-114) and 75 percent from the free throw line (129-of-172). He had 12 double figure rebounding performances with a high of 19 and two performances with 18. He also had single game bests in blocks (4), assists (4) and steals (3). As a freshman in 2017-18, he averaged 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds for an Eastlake team that finished 12-12 overall and 8-8 in the KingCo.
 
Personal: Interested in majoring in business at Eastern. Born 7/11/02 in Utah. Parents are Jeff and Shelly Jones.
 
 

 
PREVIOUSLY Announced  . . .

Mason Landdeck  G – 6-2 – 160 – Fr. – HS – Zillah, Wash. / Desert Hills HS (Saint George, Utah) '21
 
Ethan Price – F – 6-10 – 230 – Fr. – HS – Bury St. Edmunds, England / Ipswich BB Academy-Copleston HS '21