VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota men's basketball head coach Todd Lee has announced the signing of three student-athletes to national letters of intent. The trio of Hunter Goodrick, Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Rich Polanco Lantigua will join the Coyotes for the start of the 2019-20 season.
 
"We're excited about our early signing class," Lee said. "We feel good about filling some needs that we have in the program. We needed to find a young point guard that could help next year and take over in the future. Shooting is another thing we needed to add to our program." 
 
Kruz Perrott-Hunt | Auckland, New Zealand | Rosmini College | Guard | Psychology
 
The 6-3 guard recently earned a spot on the Tall Blacks', the New Zealand senior national team, 14-man roster in preparation for the next World Cup qualifying games. This past summer, he was named the best defensive player at the Nike Asia Camp in China and helped New Zealand's U-18 national team finish runner-up at the FIBA Asia Championships. At the event, he averaged 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists including 21 points and eight rebounds in the semifinal contest against China.
 
At his prep school, Rosmini College, Perrott-Hunt won back-to-back national championships. In the 2018 final, he tallied 29 points, 13 rebounds, nine steals and five assists.
 
Coach Lee's Take: "Cruz is a true point guard and is an excellent passer. He has a great IQ to go with his good size. He is getting great experience playing in New Zealand for the national team but also training with a NBL team. He will come in next year ready to go."
 
Hunter Goodrick | Sydney, Australia | St. Joseph's College | Wing | Business
 
The 6-7 wing is currently on scholarship at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence, the same institution current Coyote Matt Johns competed at. Prior to the Centre of Excellence, Goodrick averaged 42 points and 21 rebounds per game as a senior at St. Joseph's College. He set a record for the Athletic Association of Great Public Schools in New South Wales with 68 points vs. The Scots College.
 
On the national level, Goodrick helped the U-18 Australian team place second at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament held in Germany. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game at the event.
 
Coach Lee's Take: "Hunter is an excellent shooter with great size. He is physical and knows how to play the game. He is going to stretch the floor and can play multiple spots. The biggest things with him are his skill set, his ability to shoot the ball, toughness and his basketball IQ."
 
Rich Polanco Lantigua | Santiago de Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic | Army and Navy Academy (Calif.) | Forward | Business
 
The 6-8 forward averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game at Army and Navy Academy over his 115-game career. He totaled nearly 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds while being named a top-20 player in the state of California (ESPN, 247 Sports, Scout). He went on to earn first-team all-Coastal League honors his final two seasons of high school.
 
He played his true freshman season at Eastern Washington, seeing action in 27 games tallying 103 points and 43 rebounds. Currently at Central Arizona College, Polanco is tallying 9 points and 4 rebounds per game. He will have two years of NCAA eligibility remaining when he joins the Coyotes.
 
Coach Lee's Take: "Rich is a physical, strong, skilled young man. He is a good passer and is very good at handling the ball, which is unusual for someone his size. He can guard the post but can also operate on the perimeter. We play with our posts on the perimeter a lot and he fits into that mold."