Wolf Pack signs power forward

David Carter has added yet another piece to the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team.

The Nevada head coach announced Sunday that Kevin Panzer of Mission Viejo, Calif., has signed a national letter of intent with the Pack to play basketball beginning next season. Panzer joins Jordan Burris of Bakersfield, Calif., Deonte Burton of Compton, Calif., Derrell Conner of East Chicago, Ind., Jordan Finn of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and center Illiwa Baldwin of Queensland, Australia in this year's recruiting class.

The 6-foot-8, 195-pound Panzer averaged 15.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks last season for Capistrano Valley High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Panzer was a first-team All-South Coast League selection and was his team's co-Most Valuable Player.

Panzer made 49.3 percent of his field goal attempts last year, including 34 percent on 3-pointers. He set Capistrano Valley's career record for blocks with 164 and its single-season record for rebounds (333 last year).

"We are very fortunate to be getting a player as talented as Kevin in May," Carter said in a Wolf Pack press release. "He is a highly skilled basketball player, and we are very excited to have him in our program."

Panzer originally gave a verbal commitment to Pennsylvania last August, according to the Los Angeles Times. He told Penn he wasn't going to sign a letter of intent after there was a change in the Penn coaching staff this season.

Panzer was also recently recruited by the University of Iowa, according to the Iowa Press-Citizen. He made an official visit to Nevada last weekend, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Panzer's Capistrano Valley team went 19-10 last year. One of their victories was over Reno's Galena High. Panzer scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds and three blocks in a 79-42 victory over Galena on Dec. 12 at Capistrano Valley.

It is a former Galena High player, Luke Babbitt, that Panzer is expected to help replace at Nevada. The 6-foot-9 Babbitt recently announced his decision to leave the Pack after his sophomore year and enter the National Basketball Association draft. Panzer will likely fill Babbitt's role as a player who can score either inside or outside.

The Wolf Pack's six new recruits will fill the void left by six players who left the program after last season: Babbitt, Armon Johnson, Joey Shaw, Ray Kraemer, Brandon Fields and London Giles.