FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University men's basketball coach Gary Tuell announced today the signing of three outstanding high school seniors to National Letters of Intent. 
 
"I couldn't be happier," said Tuell. "We not only added three outstanding basketball players to our program, but we've signed three student-athletes with impeccable academic credentials and tremendous character. These young men are perfect fits for our basketball team and our university. They exemplify our core values and fit seamlessly into our style and system of play. We believe all three of these guys will step in and contribute immediately as freshmen. They were the top three players on our 'Wish List' in August and I'm thrilled that we were able to land all three."
 
Inking National Letters of Intent to play for the Sharks in 2015-16 are Dwayne Gibson, a 6-4 guard at Park Tudor HS in Indianapolis, Indiana; Austin Marciniak, a 6-3 guard at Green HS in Uniontown, Ohio and Nikita Orap, a 6-5 guard who hails from Moscow, Russia but is in his second year as an exchange student at Chaminade-Madonna HS in Hollywood, Florida.
 
"You can sum up this recruiting class in very few words," said Tuell. "High character, high academics, exceptional shooters with good length and outstanding skill levels. These guys all handle and pass the ball extremely well, are very unselfish and probably the best group of shooters to enter NSU in the same recruiting class. They're winners who solidify our 2015-16 roster and more than fill the needs we will have when we lose Stian Berg (Sr., Baerum, Norway), Brian Cahill (Sr., Arlington, Va.), Maurice Fuller (Sr., Westfield, Ind.) and Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) to graduation in May."
 
Gibson is perhaps the most recognized of NSU's newcomers, in part because he begins his fourth year at Park Tudor High, winner of three of the last four Indiana Class 2A state championships. Current NSU freshman Troy Spears was once a teammate of Gibson's at Park Tudor before Spears transferred to his hometown Martinsville High for his final two years. "He's a great player," Spears said of Gibson. "I'm really excited that we're going to be reunited again in college." 
 
At Park Tudor, Gibson often took a backseat to more celebrated teammates such as Yogi Farrell (Indiana), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) and Bryce Moore (Western Michigan). Even now, as a senior, Gibson is sometimes over-shadowed by 2017 graduate Jaren Jackson, who already has offers from Indiana and Purdue among a host of other high profile Division I programs. 
 
"Dwayne visited four or five DI programs before coming here," said Tuell. "Having Troy here certainly helped us. But he and his family were impressed with our program, our university and our people. (Former assistant coach) Brandon Crone did a great job laying the foundation for us to recruit Dwayne before leaving for an assistant's job at Butler University on October 12th. But we were nervous about our chances to sign Dwayne since he visited here three or four days after Coach Crone left. Fortunately for all of us, he connected well with our staff and our players when he came on his visit. I fell in love with him. There's something about Dwayne… he has an air about himself, a special presence… and you notice it right away. He is extremely humble but he carries himself in a way that's unique. There's a calming confidence about him that carries over to the way he plays."
 
As a junior Gibson helped coach Kyle Cox's Park Tudor team to a state championship, averaging 10 points and eight rebounds on a star-studded squad that finished the season 24-4, including an 84-57 romp past Westview in the championship game. For the season Gibson led Park Tudor with 35 blocked shots while making 52 percent of his field goal attempts and 41 percent of his 3-pointers.
 
"Dwayne wears a size 17 shoe and we think he may have another little growth spurt before he finishes maturing," Tuell said of the high-flying 6-4 guard/forward. "He really gives us length and athleticism on the perimeter and he has tremendous vision. As well as he shoots the three, he's just as talented as a creative passer. He's going to be a terrific college basketball player and leader."
 
Gibson, who plans to pursue a career in medicine, was attracted in part to NSU because of its medical school and the opportunity to be on a campus where he could build relationships with a variety of different medical professionals.
 
Marciniak has been dribbling basketballs since he learned to walk. His father, Chris, has been the director of the year-round north Ohio Shooting Stars Basketball Camps for over 20 years, instructing nearly 40,000 youngsters including one very famous former camper: LeBron James. 
 
Marciniak burst on the scene at Green HS as a freshman when he drained five 3-pointers in his first varsity game. Now in his fourth season as a starter, Green coach Mark Kinsley is excited about Austin's progress and development as a player. "Austin has made tremendous strides in the improvement of his game," said Kinsley. "He entered Green as a very good 3-point shooter, and as he begins his senior season, he has become a complete player. His ball-handling has improved tremendously. He is able to get to the basket and finish in traffic. And he's very proficient at knocking down the mid-range jumper off the dribble. We're looking forward to following his career at Nova Southeastern."
 
Marciniak, who averaged 15.1 points per game as a junior, had interest from a number of NCAA DI and DII schools before choosing NSU. Marciniak, who has over a 4.0 GPA, was first attracted to NSU by its marine biology program. 
 
"Austin made an unofficial visit in August and came back for his official visit on the same weekend with Dwayne," said Tuell. "I think those two guys hit it off and Austin really enjoyed the atmosphere surrounding our program."
 
"There was just a different 'feel' at NSU that I didn't experience anywhere else," Marciniak said, explaining his reason for choosing the Sharks. "You could tell the players really cared about each other on and off the floor. There was a camaraderie among the teammates that I didn't see at other places," he said. "Plus, I really liked the style of play and the unselfishness of the players."
 
"Austin is a beautiful shooter," said Tuell, "but he's also very crafty with the ball and able to get into the paint and create problems. He's tough-minded and competitive. He's a gym rat. He's all about ball. I loved talking ball with Austin because he's someone who really understands the game and wants to win. He's a very mature young man and he's driven to succeed on and off the court."
 
The 6-3 Marciniak was named first team All-Suburban League as both a sophomore and junior while also receiving all-district recognition both years. 
 
Orap's route to NSU began at the Kaunas Pushkin Sports Academy in Lithuania, where he drew the attention of several basketball scouts and gurus. The Moscow native was advised to take his game to the United States and eventually he landed with coach Andre Torres at Chaminade-Madonna College Prep HS in Fort Hollywood. The 6-5 guard arrived for his junior season in 2013-14 and was an immediate impact player for coach Torres' talented squad.
 
"Nikita is one of the best pure shooters in South Florida," says Torres. "He has a great passion for the game, high basketball IQ and the work ethic to match."
 
"We have a very good friendship and relationship with coach Torres, and that certainly helped us get in the door with Nikita," said Tuell. "My assistant, Marquise Kiffin, did a terrific job recruiting Nikita and deserves a huge pat on the back. Coach Kiffin arranged for Nikita to come over and watch practice and meet our players. After seeing our facilities and meeting our guys it was pretty easy to sell Nikita on coming back for an official visit."
 
As a junior at Chaminade-Madonna, the 6-5 Orap averaged 17.1 points and seven rebounds, while making over 40 percent of his 3-pointers. "He's just a tremendous shooter, like Dwayne and Austin," said Tuell. "But he's also very skilled. We think he has the ability to develop into a point guard in our system. He handles and passes extremely well, and he can get to the rim and finish with some ferocious dunks if you give him a driving lane. As he gets stronger and matures he is going to be a special player."
 
Orap, a future business major, had a number of DI schools flirting with him and encouraging him to sign in the spring, but Chaminade's Torres thinks he made the right choice by signing with NSU early. "NSU is an ideal fit for Nikita," said Torres. "He was looking for a top academic institution with a strong business program. And he wanted a basketball team with a coaching staff he liked and a style of play that would complement his skill set. I think NSU had everything he was looking for."
 
"Nikita already made the move from Russia to Lithuania and then to Fort Lauderdale," said Tuell. "He's comfortable here, he has friends here now and he has a wonderful guardian family who care deeply for him. It will be much easier for Nikita to transition to college without having to move out of the area. We're very excited that he chose us to be his basketball family for the next four years."
 
"I watched two games and loved the style of play and especially the unselfishness of the players," said Orap.  "They played the game the right way, the way I was taught to play it. And I loved the feeling of family with the team. I'm very excited to be coming to NSU."
 
"Dwayne, Austin and Nikita are three talented young players who had both Division I and Division II opportunities," Tuell said. "Instead, they chose NSU because of our academics, our facilities, our campus, our people, our program and the hard work by both the coaching staff and the players. Our players did a great job in helping us recruit. Dwayne, Austin and Nikita recognized what we're trying to build here. They saw how they fit into our future and wanted to be a part of it. I can't thank them enough for their commitment to NSU, to our program and for placing their faith in me. I'm humbled by their commitment to help me build this program and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to coach them, both individually and collectively.
 
"Being able to target these three guards and putting the future of the program in their hands is a compliment to their potential," said Tuell. "But it's also a vote of confidence for our bigs. If we weren't convinced that Harrison Goodrick (6-8 So., Sydney Australia), Casey Carroll (6-7 Jr., Youngstown, Ohio), Nick Rosa (6-6 Fr., Coral Springs, Fla.), Brandon Patchan (6-8 So., Tampa, Fla.) and Remi Farrell (6-6 So., Woodbridge, Conn.) are good enough, we could never have gone after three guards, which is what we desperately needed for the future. I'm very satisfied that our young post players will continue to progress and develop over the next two and three years beyond this season.
 
"This is a great day to be a Shark," said Tuell. "When I look ahead to the 2015-16 season and the guys we have coming back combined with these three talented young guys, I'm excited. This recruiting class puts us on such a solid ground. We know who we have for the '15-16 season and now we can turn our attention to filling the two openings we will have in '16-17.
 
"When the new guys who signed come in as freshmen they'll have a veteran group around them, really, for the next two years. It's all a process of building and developing and growing into something special. I thought the last two years we began the building process and began to turn things around. Hopefully this year will be a season when we take another step or two up the ladder. With the addition of these three student-athletes, combined with the number of veterans who will be returning, the '15-16 and '16-17 seasons could be very special. Our program has never been in better shape, and a lot of credit has to go to our former assistant, Brandon Crone, and to Marquise Kiffin, who has been terrific in filling the gap since Brandon left. You can't look at the future of the program and guys we have this year and the following two years without being very excited."