JAIME LLOREDA SIGNS NATIONAL LETTER WITH LSU

BATON ROUGE - LSU men's basketball coach John Brady announced Wednesday that the basketball office had received the signed national letter-of-intent papers from Jaime Lloreda of Dixie State College in St. George, Utah.

Lloreda will complete his sophomore season at Dixie College and come to LSU for the 2002-2003 season with two years of eligibility remaining.

Lloreda, a 6-8, 240-pound forward, who averaged 16 points and nine rebounds for Dixie as a freshman, is averaging 22.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in some 27 minutes of play in his first three games in Dixie's sophomore season for Coach Jeff Kidder. Lloreda is making 68.2 percent of his field goal attempts in the early going.

The native of Colon, Panama, averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds at Berkshire High in Homestead, Fla., where he prepped for coach Rolando Delabarrera. Lloreda signed with Colorado out of Berkshire before going to Dixie, which is ranked second in the country in the junior college pre-season poll for the 2001-2002 season. Dixie is 3-0 going into tournament action starting on Thursday in St. George.

"Jamie Lloreda choosing to join our basketball program here at LSU is another indication of the positive direction we are headed," said LSU Coach John Brady. "He is thought of as one of the best junior college players at his position in the country. He has size, an excellent skill level, and is a

tremendous competitor. Without question, Jaime, coupled with our returning players, puts us in a position of having the opportunity to develop the best team we have had at LSU. We are excited about what he brings to our program."

The 2001-2002 edition of the LSU men's basketball team opens its season on Saturday at the Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m. against the Campbell Camels.