By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Alfonzo McKinnie (Chicago, Ill.), Sultan Muhammad (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Ryan Bross (Menominee Falls, Wis.) will all join the Green Bay men's basketball team beginning in 2012-13, head coach Brian Wardle announced on Monday.

The trio joins another trio of players joining the Green Bay program. Class of 2012 Wisconsin standouts Nick Arenz (Onalaska, Wis.), Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) and Carrington Love all previously signed to play collegiately at Green Bay.

McKinnie is a proven commodity at the Division I level and will join the Phoenix after two seasons at Eastern Illinois. As a sophomore in 2011-12, the 6-foot-8, 195-pound McKinnie started 28 of 29 games and averaged 10.2 points and seven rebounds per game. He also ranked second in the Ohio Valley Conference in field goal percentage at 56.7 percent.

A Chicago native, McKinnie played high school basketball with Green Bay point guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) at Marshall High School. In 2009-10, the duo helped Henry Cotton's team to a 28-8 record and a third-place finish in the Illinois Class 3A State Tournament.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, McKinnie will be allowed to practice but not participate in game action in 2012-13. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining beginning in 2013-14.

"What I loved about Al McKinnie was his production at the Division I level, especially this past season as a sophomore," Wardle said. "He has proven he can produce at a high level against quality competition. He brings a motor, an energy about him that will help our team out in practice this next season and the next two years after that. He was a teammate of Keifer's and if you know anything about the Marshall program is that those players know how to guard, play really hard and compete."

A 6-foot-1 guard and native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Muhammad played at South Suburban College in Chicago for the past two seasons. Muhammad was a 2012 NJCAA Division II Third-Team All-American after leading his team to a top-five national ranking. He averaged 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

As a freshman, Muhammad averaged 14.4 points and five rebounds per game while knocking down 45 percent from long range (107-240). The two-time Region Player of the Year knocked down 187 in his two seasons at SSC.

"Sultan Muhammad has credentials out of junior college that are similar to those of Brennan Cougill," said Wardle. "He is a high-character, mature good student that has also produced at a high level at South Suburban. He was the team's leading scorer for two years and is a great shooter with a feel for the game. He has a body and game that is college ready."

Bross is a 7-foot-2 center from Menominee Falls, Wis., who will join the Green Bay program as an invited walk-on. The center will supplant 7-foot-1 Phoenix all-conference big man Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) as not only the biggest player on the program roster but also the tallest player in the Horizon League.

"Ryan is really exciting to have in the program," said Wardle. "To have a walk-on that adds another player over seven feet tall to the roster will only make our team better in practice and will make him better. He has not been playing basketball for a long time, but he will get to go against guys with size that will make him improve. He is a young kid continuing to work on his game."

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