Staff report
MOUNT ULLA — Rashawn Joshua has been to five high schools — Salisbury, East Rowan, North Hills, Statesville Christian and currently West Rowan.
His next school will be in college.
Guilford Tech coach John Patty confirmed the 6-foot-6 forward will be on his roster next year.
Patty said he won’t play Joshua inside, but rather put him at small forward.
“He creates a nice mismatch for us,” Patty said. “He could play 2. I don’t see him as a 4 or 5.”
Guilford Tech is the third biggest junior college in North Carolina and it plays in Division 2 Region 10 with Catawba Valley Community College, Rockingham Community College and Pitt Community College, among others. It has been ranked nationally two of the last four years.
“This is no cream puff schedule,” said Patty of Guilford Tech, which had an off-season last year at 11-21.
Patty said the player made the first contact.
“I didn’t know who he was,” Patty said. “I got calls and e-mails. I kinda listened and got a feel. We communicated a long time before we met. He impressed me on the phone.”
Joshua played on the freshman team at Salisbury, before going to East Rowan for two seasons. He averaged 5.7 points in the 2009-10 season. He never finished his year at North Hills, where he reclassified, but averaged 13.7 points with Jason Causby before leaving. His highs were 28 points against Statesville Christian and 23 against Sheets Memorial.
He started this school year at Statesville Christian but left before the basketball season and ended up at West Rowan. It has been a while since he played competitively.
Rusty? Maybe, but Patty likes what he sees.
“He’s long. He can put the ball on the floor. He can play,” was Patty’s assessment.
“What interested me the most was that he wants to apply himself academically,” Patty said. “It’s very important that they be happy at school. To go to the next level, you must have academics. And we’ve been very successful placing kids in Division 1, 2 and 3 schools.”
If Joshua puts it all together, he could be one of them.