BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team continued to stockpile talent for the near future Wednesday as the Bulldogs officially added UMass transfer Demetrius Dyson to their roster for the 2015-16 campaign, announced Head Coach Scott Padgett.
 
Dyson, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard from Covington, Tennessee, will be immediately available to practice with the team throughout the 2015-16 season, but won't be able to compete in game action until 2016-17, due to Division I transfer rules.
 
Dyson, who will then be a redshirt junior, will still have two years remaining to play competitively.
 
"Demetrius is a high-level athlete who will fit our style of play perfectly," said Padgett. "He also brings the ability to knock down open shots and I think he will be able to rebound the ball extremely well the wing position. He is also a great defender, and at 6-foot-5 his size is ideal, especially with his high level of athleticism."
 
A pre-med student at UMass, Dyson signed with the Minutemen out of high school as a 3-star recruit by both Rivals and ESPN.com. He was also ranked as the No. 85 shooting guard in the country and No. 17 overall in the state of Tennessee by ESPN Scouting Services.
 
Dyson averaged 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game as a senior at Covington High School under the tutelage of Head Coach Dion Real. He also proved to be a Class AA all-state and all-metro honoree after leading the Chargers to a brilliant 25-4 record.
 
In high school, Dyson shot 50 percent from the field, 35 percent from outside and 78 percent from the free-throw line. He was a three-year letterman at Brighton High School before transferring prior to his senior year. Dyson played AAU ball for both Team Thad and MM33 out of Memphis, Tennessee.
 
"Our program is really going in the right direction," Padgett said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but this class and these players that we've just added all had different opportunities and other high level schools offering them scholarships. They all chose to come here to Samford over a lot of other options, because they believe in what we're all about.
 
"We are a family here, we're going to win, we're going to work hard and we're going to have fun. That's something that all of these guys want and they've shown that by committing to us. The future is extremely bright here at Samford, but the present is pretty bright as well."
 
As a true freshman at UMass in 2013-14, Dyson appeared in 20 games off the bench and finished the season with 12 points and 24 rebounds, while averaging 3.5 minutes per contest. He also earned action in 11 Atlantic 10 regular-season games for an average of 3.8 minutes per outing.
 
Last season, Dyson ranked seventh on the team in scoring and appeared in 29 games, including all 18 A-10 contests. He scored 96 points (3.3 ppg), grabbed 58 rebounds (2.0 rpg) and handed out 14 assists (0.5 apg). Dyson also averaged 10.7 minutes per game to rank eighth on the team.
 
A keen decision-maker, Dyson only committed a total of 11 turnovers in 310 minutes last season, averaging just one every 28.2 minutes of action. He recorded three double-figure scoring games and registered 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field with a pair of 3-pointers in 15 minutes against Davidson on Jan. 14.
 
The best game of Dyson's career came at VCU on Feb. 21, as he tallied his first career double-double, setting career marks with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes. Additionally, Dyson was the key figure in the first half, scoring five of his 10 first-half points in the final 6:35 to keep the margin within five at the break.
 
"Demetrius has played for a very good program in UMass and was in the rotation for a lot of minutes," Padgett said. "He turned in a lot of really good games last season against some high competition."
 
Dyson officially joined a talented group of players in this season's recruiting class Wednesday.
 
Under Padgett and Samford's tireless coaching staff, the Bulldogs have also added Division I transfers Iman Johnson (University of Maryland Eastern Shore) and Alex Thompson (Auburn University), as well as highly-touted incoming freshmen Dakota Quinn, Matt Rose and Wyatt Walker. Samford will also add true freshman Tanner Tapp as an invited walk-on.
 
Like Dyson, Thompson will redshirt the 2015-16 campaign and is going to be listed as a junior with two seasons to play beginning in 2016-17.
 
"Every college player has strengths, but they also have weaknesses as well," said Padgett. "For Demetrius and Alex, this year off for them is going to be huge. For Alex, he's going to be able to put on some weight, but also play both inside and out. He's already put on five or six pounds in the month that he's been here and that's going to be key in his development.
 
"For Demetrius, his strength and size is already ideal, but the year off will help him to not only be that great athlete that can finish in the open floor over anybody and knock down the open shot, but also to improve his ball-handling a little bit and be able to create his own shot. Also, both Demetrius and Alex will be able to hit the ground running in their second year and that will be a huge factor for this program."
 
2015-16 Samford Basketball Signees
 
Name, Pos., Ht., Wt., Cl., Hometown (Previous School)
Demetrius Dyson*, G, 6-5, 200, Jr., Covington, Tenn. (University of Massachusetts)
Iman Johnson, F, 6-5, 215, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis. (Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore)
Dakota Quinn, F/C, 6-9, 215, Fr., Nashville, Tenn. (Davidson Academy)
Matt Rose, F, 6-7, 200, Fr., Lexington, Ky. (Lexington Christian)
Tanner Tapp, G, 6-2,190, Fr., Brentwood, Tenn. (Brentwood HS)
Alex Thompson*, F, 6-8, 210, Jr., Dothan, Ala. (Auburn University)
Wyatt Walker, C, 6-8, 230, Fr., Jacksonville, Fla. (Providence School)
 
*Will redshirt the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules