Avila, a highly touted recruit throughout the 2012-2013 season was the final of the four to make his college choice. The 6’11 big man from the Bronx, New York decided on Tuesday morning that Oklahoma would be his choice after making his official visit to Norman over the weekend.
Avila, the emotional leader for the Saints in back to back runs to the Jayhawk West Conference Championship, was third on the team in 2012-13 with 11.4 points and second with 5.8 rebounds per game. He was a 1st Team All-Region and 2nd Team All-Jayhawk West selection as a sophomore. Avila started all 30 games that he played in for the Saints as a sophomore and scored 10 or more points in 20 of those games. He chalked up four double-doubles on the season including a 24 point, 11 rebound performance against Colby early in the conference season.
He will join a Sooners team in 2013-14 coming off of a 20-12 season in which they were a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. At OU he will play for legendary coach Lon Kruger, who before joining the Sooner staff in 2011, spent time as an NBA Head Coach for the Atlanta Hawks from 2000-2003 and has been the head man at UNLV, Illinois, Florida, and Kansas State over the past 30 years.
Avila chose Oklahoma over Memphis, Gonzaga, and Oklahoma State among others. When asked about his decision to play for the Sooners he said “as soon as I walked onto campus at OU and met the players, I got the same feeling of family as I have here at Seward County and knew it was the right place for me. I am really looking forward to competing as hard as I can for the next two seasons for my coaches and my teammates.”
