Mount Olive, N.C. --- The Mount Olive men's basketball team gain height and power with the addition of six new signees, head coach Joey Higginbotham announced today. Joining the Trojan ranks is point guard Mike Brown, three guards in Julian Washington, Jonathan Mebane and Landry Gainey, guard/forward Kenyon Burt and forward Sean Larimore.
A Winchester, Va. native, Mike Brown will bring speed and agility to the Trojans filling the role of point guard. In his senior season, Brown averaged 15.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. At John Handley high school, Brown became one of the most decorated players in program history. He was named to the 1st Team All-State and the All-Region team as a junior and senior. Brown, in his senior year, was named the Regional Player of the Year. He was also Conference Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons. In addition, Brown was named to the Virginia High School League's All-Star game as a senior.
Landry Gainey comes to Mount Olive from White Oak high school in Jacksonville, N.C. The 6'2" guard averaged 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Gainey was a three-year varsity player, a two-time All-Conference selection, and a two-time All-District player. He was also named 1st team All-Area twice for the Jacksonville area. Gainey was also a standout Tennis player in high school.
Jonathan Mebane, a 6'5" guard, joins the Trojan line-up after playing at Hargrave Military Academy and Leesville Road high school. The Raleigh, N.C. native spent this past season at Hargrave Military Academy where he shot 43% from beyond the three-point arc on the No. 4 team in the nation. He had two high scoring games where he tallied 28 and 33 points for the Tigers. Mebane was a four-time All-Cap 8 selection at Leesville Road and finished as the schools 2nd all-time leading scorer. He led Leesville Road to the State Championship game his senior year.
A 6'6" guard from Gainesville, Va., Julian Washington, adds some more height and speed to the Trojans roster. Washington played at Battlefield high school where he helped the Bobcats go 21-10 in 2017-18 and was a part of the winningest senior class in Battlefield high history. He was an All-Conference selection and help lead Battlefield to back to back state semi-final appearances. Washington was selected to the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star game and was runner-up in the slam dunk contest.
Garner, N.C. native, Kenyon "KD" Burt, joins the Trojans as a guard/forward player. The 6'5" small forward played at Garner high school where he led the Trojans to four consecutive conference titles and won a school-record 114 games. Burt is the ninth all-time leading scorer in Garner history as he averaged 10.5 points and seven rebounds during his career at Garner, scoring over 1,300 points and grabbing over 800 rebounds. He earned three All-Conference selections, along with being a two-time All-District selection. He put up 21 double-doubles in his junior and senior years. Garner won the prestigious John Wall National Invitational KD's senior year.
The final recruit brings much-needed height for the Trojans post game in 6'8" forward Sean Larimore. The Lancaster, Calif. native played high school ball at Paracalte high school where he averaged 15 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks per game and shot 44% from behind the three-point arc. Larimore was named a top 50 senior by the LA Daily News and earned a spot on the All-Gold Coast League twice. Larrimore was also the schools Offensive Player of the Year twice and Defensive Player of the Year in 2017-18. He was selected to play in the LA Daily News and San Fernando Valley All-Star Games.
The Trojans finished the 2017-18 season with a 17-12 overall and 13-6 in conference action with an appearance in the Conference Carolinas quarterfinals.