Warrensburg, Mo. (Apr. 16, 2001) -- Central Missouri State University men's basketball coach Don Doucette has announced the signing of his first recruit for the 2001-02 season. Joining the Mules is Mark DeBaun, a key member of Johnson County Community College's (Kan.) NJCAA Division II national championship team this past season.

"We are ecstatic about Mark's commitment to come to Central Missouri," Doucette said. "He definitely will be an impact player for us next season."

The 6' 4", 230-pound DeBaun averaged 12.9 points and a team-leading 8.8 rebounds at center, while starting all 36 games for the 30-6 Cavaliers. He shot 66.1% from the field (205-310). He was named the most valuable player in both the Region VI Tournament and the District 9 Tournament, both of which Johnson County won en route to the national championship.

In the Region VI title game, he had 19 points and 12 rebounds and in the District 9 title game, he had 15 points and 10 rebounds. In the Cavaliers' four games at the national tournament, he averaged 12.8 points and scored 13 points with nine rebounds in the title game.

As a freshman at Johnson County, DeBaun averaged 8.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. A graduate of Shawnee Mission (Kan.) South High School, DeBaun originally went to the University of Kansas and was a member of the Kansas football team before transferring to Johnson County.