April 14, 2005

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's basketball program received a signed national letter of intent to enroll at the school and play basketball starting with the 2005-06 season from Jason Petrimoulx on Thursday, the second day of the spring signing period, head coach Lon Kruger announced.

Petrimoulx, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Dixie State College, will join the Runnin' Rebels as a junior. The Las Vegas native who attended Cimarron-Memorial High School before heading to St. George, Utah, led Dixie in scoring this past season and was fifth in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with 15.4 points per game.

"Jason had a tremendous year at Dixie," Kruger said. "He is a versatile player that can play both guard positions. He will bring enthusiasm and athleticism, which will compliment those already in our program. We are very pleased to be adding a player with local ties to our roster."

The first team all-region 18 recipient also ranked third in the conference in 3-pointers made (2.2 per game), eighth in assists (3.5), 12th in steals (1.6), 12th in 3-point percentage (35.5), 15th in blocked shots (0.5) and 17th in rebounding (4.8). His team recorded a 19-12 mark this past season.

"I had a lot of options open to me, but coach Kruger is the kind of coach I want to play for," Petrimoulx said. "I am excited to come home. There are good guys already there, good guys coming in and the coaching staff is great. It is a perfect situation for me and to have the opportunity to play in my hometown, it just doesn't get any better than that."

As a freshman at Dixie, Petrimoulx averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds, starting 24 of 27 games played. The team was 20-8 in 2003-04.

Petrimoulx joins Jerome Johnson as UNLV's spring signees. The Runnin' Rebels have now signed seven players for the 2005-06 season as five others signed with the program in November. They are Javon Adams, Joe Darger, Gaston Essengue, Davon Jefferson and Wendell White.