May 23, 2008

(San Francisco) - Blake Wallace, a 6-6, 220 pound forward from Irvine Valley College has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at the University of San Francisco as announced today by head coach Rex Walters. Wallace completes Walters' first recruiting class at the University of San Francisco.

"We are very excited to welcome Blake Wallace to USF," Walters said. "He's a very skilled 3-4 player who will have an opportunity to contribute right away. He will pose matchup problems with his ability to shoot and score from the perimeter. We're excited to have him and I look forward to working with him"

Last season, Wallace averaged 12.9 points, converting on .597 from the field, .469 from 3-point range to go along with and 7.3 rebounds for the Lasers. Irvine Valley was ranked No. 1 in California for much of the season and posted a 27-5 record in 2007-08, a 10 victory improvement over the previous year.

Wallace initially signed on to play at West Coast Conference rival Pepperdine. As a freshman in 2005-06, Wallace averaged 4.7 points and 2.1 rebounds for the Waves before departing Malibu.

A highly decorated prep player at Servite High School, Wallace averaged 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks a game as a junior during the 2003-04 season. He was a second team Division III-AA All-CIF Southern Section selection, named third team All-Orange County by the Orange County Register and was selected to Cal-Hi's All-State Underclassman Team. As a sophomore, Wallace averaged 15.2 points, 10 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a contest en route to being named second team All-CIF.

Additionally, Wallace participated at the Adidas All-America Camp in 2004 and 2005. Scout.com ranked him the third-best small forward on the west coast and 23rd in the country in addition to being a four-star recruit.