DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Junior-college basketball standout Thiago Cordeiro was weighing scholarship offers from Dayton, Rhode Island and Pacific this spring when schools from top leagues such as Kansas State and St. John's began tossing bouquets his way.

He wasn't impressed.

"I didn't know if they really wanted me or wanted someone else first," he said. "I didn't want to go someplace where I was their second choice. I only have two years left. I want to go to a school where I can play right away and make an impact."

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward from Pernambuco, Brazil, will certainly get that chance after signing a national letter-of-intent Wednesday with the Flyers, who were shopping for another frontcourt recruit after a pair of players transferred.

Cordeiro played the past two seasons at Barton (Kansas) Community College and was the nation's top shot-blocker at the Division I junior-college level with 145. He averaged 11.6 points and 8.8 rebounds, helping the team to a 27-7 record.

"Obviously, he's a good defender and very good rebounder," UD coach Brian Gregory said. "He brings an international skill package that a lot of guys his size don't have. He can pass the ball, and he can step out and make perimeter jumpshots."

Cordeiro, known as "T" to his friends, has been in the United States only two years and didn't know English before he arrived.

"He's only going to get better," Barton coach Craig Fletchall said. "We put him at the high post off and on, and I think teams at the next level are going to have trouble guarding him out there.

"I undersell my guys sometimes when it comes to recruiting, but this kid has fought for everything he has. He came here without a heavy coat and had one pair of shoes. He didn't know the language. But he's leaving as the Homecoming king, a real popular kid. He takes academics seriously. And he's a total team player, never complains about his touches."