Porterville College Men's Basketball announces six sophomore signings

The Porterville College men's basketball program has announced the signings of all six of its sophomores from the 2015-16 Pirates squad to continue their academic and athletic careers. Davy Baltus is headed to Livingstone College, Travis Flagg is off to Tuskegee University, Leonard Herring is moving on to Jarvis Christian College, Dale Kirkland is transferring to Bethel College, Tyler Roberts will leave for York College, and Matt Zorn will continue on at Northland College.

"It's been a honor coaching these guys the past two years," said Porterville head coach Rob Haynes. "Each one of these guys are very deserving of moving on to the next level. For one athlete to get a scholarship is a challenge itself so for six of these guys to get scholarships shows how "Hard Work" pays off."

First-team All-Central Valley Conference selection Travis Flagg heads the list. The 5-11 point guard originally out of Queens, NY will continue his career at NCAA Division II Tuskegee University in Alabama. Flagg led Porterville with 14.5 points and 3.3 assists per game last season (2015-16). 

Baltus was an All-CVC honorable mention pick and will take his talents to NCAA Division II Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. The 6-2 guard out of Paris, France was third on the Pirates with 10.3 points per game and also averaged 2.7 rebounds.

Zorn was named to the CVC All-Defensive team after leading PC with 6.5 rebounds per game to go with 5.6 points per game. The 6-3 Porterville native attended Mission Oaks High School. He is headed to Wisconsin to play at Northland College, a NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland.

Joining Zorn on the all-defensive team was Herring. The 6-8 forward out of Liberty High School in Bakersfield averaged 9.3 points and 6.0 rebounds over his sophomore season at Porterville. Herring will head to Jarvis Christian College, a NAIA program in Hawkins, Texas.

Kirkland, a 6-7 forward originally out of Bridgeport, Connecticut, is moving on despite playing in just five games for the Pirates last season. Kirkland will continue at NAIA-level Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in limited action.

Roberts rounds out Porterville's sophomore six signings. Roberts, a 6-4 guard/forward came to Porterville from Las Vegas and will move on to York College in York, Nebraska. York competes at the NAIA level. Roberts was second on the Pirates last season, averaging 11.0 points and was fourth with 3.7 rebounds per game.

Despite losing so many players and having to rebuild for the upcoming 2016-17 season, Haynes is proud of the success his program has achieved off the court.

"One of my main goals when I took over this program was to get our student success rate up," said Haynes. "And thus far we have exceeded that with moving 11 out of 12 guys over the past two years to higher levels with a total of 13 in my three years here at Porterville College. A lot of people play a huge part in our student success rate, so we just want to keep this momentum going. We will have 11 guys representing Porterville College all around the country this fall --- great to be a Pirate! I wish all those guys good luck next season."

Haynes and the Pirates open the 2016-17 season on November 3 when they will compete at the San Jose City College tournament. PC begins the season with five tournaments and won't play at home until a January 7 conference game against Reedley College at 5 p.m.

2015-16 Porterville College Men's Basketball transfers
Travis Flagg - Tuskegee University (NCAA DII, Tuskegee, Alabama)
Davy Baltus - Livingstone College (NCAA DII, Salisbury, North Carolina)
Matt Zorn - Northland College (NCAA DIII, Ashland, Wisconsin)
Leonard Herring - Jarvis Christian College (NAIA, Hawkins, Texas)
Dale Kirkland - Bethel College (NAIA, North Newton, Kansas)
Tyler Roberts - York College (NAIA, York, Nebraska)