Northern Kentucky University head men’s basketball coach John Brannen followed last season’s nationally recognized recruiting class with another big-time recruit in center Chris Vogt, who signed an NLI to join the Norse for the 2017-18 campaign on National Signing Day.
Both ESPN and Scout.com list the 7-foot center as a 3-star prospect.
“Our staff and program are thrilled to have Chris joining our family here at NKU,” said Brannen. “Chris brings great size and length to the center position. He is an elite shot blocker and talented finisher, and his skill set fits our style of play. More than anything, Chris comes from a great family. His character and work ethic will allow him to develop his immeasurable potential while representing our NKU community with pride.”
Vogt made national headlines when he tied the Kentucky record for blocked shots in a game, swatting 17 attempts in a contest last season as a high school junior. He went on to set the KHSAA single-season block record at 190.
The Lexington Herald Leader named the Mayfield, Kentucky, native to its 2016 all-state honorable mention team after Vogt averaged 17 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.8 blocks per outing as a junior.
Vogt is the fourth 3-star recruit to sign with the Norse in the last two years, joining current freshmen Carson Williams, Dantez Walton, and Mason Faulkner on the list.
The Norse are set to open the 2016-17 campaign this Friday when the team welcomes Earlham to BB&T Arena for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Men’s, women’s basketball with full slate of ESPN3 home contests
For the third-straight year, all Northern Kentucky University men’s and women’s basketball regular-season home games will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Each team has 14 regular-season contests on the docket at BB&T Arena, meaning a total of 28 Norse basketball games are scheduled for the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ digital platform.
“As we continue to build NKU into one of the premier athletic departments in the Horizon League and this region, the exposure we receive on ESPN3 is invaluable,” said Ken Bothof, director of athletics. “Our goal is to achieve competitive excellence on and off the court, and ESPN3 is a great avenue to showcase our accomplishments because the network places them on the national landscape.”
Men’s basketball’s season-opener with Earlham College on Friday, Nov. 11, is scheduled as the first ESPN3 broadcast of the winter season. The first home contest for the women’s team scheduled for ESPN3 is the Nov. 15 matchup with Miami (Ohio).
Starting in the 2014-15 season, Northern Kentucky began producing men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball games for ESPN3. In just the first two years, NKU produced over 120 games for the digital network. Last year alone, over 110,000 people watched more than 1.5-million minutes of NKU’s home contests.
From NKU Athletics