Owls sign Missouri prep basketball player, transfer

William Woods University head coach Nick Totta recently announced the signing of Iberia graduate Darrien Dickey and junior-college transfer Darryin "DJ" Johnson to letters of intent for the 2014-15 season.

Dickey was a four-year letterwinner at Iberia, helping spark the Rangers to a second-place finish in Class 2 back in March. He was also named Class 2 player of the year and finished his career at Iberia with 1,684 points, 503 assists, 271 steals, 633 rebounds, 69 blocks and shot 55 percent from the field.

Dickey helped direct the Rangers to back-to-back Frisco League Conference and district titles. He was named to the all-Frisco League Conference first team three times and was chosen MVP his junior and senior years.

"Darrien has an outstanding opportunity to be a tremendous player for us here at William Woods," Totta said. "He does a fantastic job of getting to the basket, absorbing contact, finishing and getting to the line.

"He can also shoot from the perimeter and even when he becomes a better shooter, Darrien will be even more difficult to defend. He is a tremendous athlete and we are excited to have him here at WWU."

Johnson is joining the Owls after spending one season at Barton (Kan.) Community College, where he averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 28 games. Prior to that, Johnson played a season at Division I Coppin State University, averaging 1.2 points in 19 games.

"DJ is a very good athlete, who has the ability to really get out and finish in the lanes," Totta said. "He is really going to help us on the inside defensively with rebounding and he has played at two schools that have provided him with a great deal of talent, so we feel like he will come in here ready to put his handprint on what we are doing."

Johnson plans to major in business management.