July 2, 2003

University of San Francisco head basketball coach Philip Mathews today announced the signing of 6-7 Australian forward Tom Burns to an athletic scholarship agreement to play for the Dons. The Doncaster native attended Balwyn High School in his native land.

"We expect Tom to be a great addition to our team's frontline," said Mathews. "He's a versatile player who has excellent size and does all the little things well, passes, shoots, plays defense. He will help us maintain the excellent outside scoring ability that we had last year, and can score inside, also."

Last year USF led the West Coast Conference in field goal, three-point and free-throw percentages.

Burns will be the second Australian to play for the Dons under coach Mathews, following Russell Hinder who played for the Dons in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

He has played 10 years with Bulleen Boomers basketball club and also played four years for the Victoria Metro state team that won four national championship Gold Medals. His championship stat averages were: 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 3 steals per game. He also shot 62% from the floor, 50% from three-point and 75% from the charity stripe.

He is the fourth player to sign with USF for the upcoming season. Previously signed were high school forward Alan Wiggins of San Diego's Horizon High School and California Community College Player of the Year Tyrone Riley of LA Community College, also a forward. USF also signed transfer Dommanic Ingerson last year from the University of Michigan. Ingerson has already attended classes at the Hilltop.

"We are thrilled with the three new players on the frontline," continued Mathews. "We have to replace the scoring of Darrell Tucker and Shammell Stallworth, and these players all have the ability to put points on the board."