The Peacock men's basketball team and Head Coach Brooks McKowen have announced six committed student-athletes for the upcoming 2016-17 season. Of the signees, five are in-coming freshman, including Iowa native Christian Mosley of Waverly and Jareese Williams, Jr. of Mason City. Anthony Williams, Jr. hails from Victoria, Minn. and Peghuentz Pericles is coming to Fayette from Naples, Fla. The final two recruits are Munachiso Okonkwo, who will transfer from John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill., but is originally from Nigeria, as well as Kam Rowan, who comes to Upper Iowa from Des Moines Area Community College, and originally hails from Champaign, Ill.
 
"We are extremely excited about this recruiting class," said McKowen. "We returned a lot of players this season that have logged a lot of minutes in their career. With this class we feel like we brought in some guys that will fill some immediate needs and have a chance to make a big impact on our team this year. We are looking forward to getting to work with this group and continuing to grow our program."
 
McKowen, who will be entering his fourth season at the helm of the men's basketball team, has helped the Peacocks reach the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament in each of his three seasons. UIU finished this past season at 16-17 overall and had an 11-11 mark in conference play. The Peacocks finished fourth in the NSIC South and earned a home game for the opening round of the NSIC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

The 2016 campaign will open up on Nov. 11 and 13 in St. Joseph, Mo. as Upper Iowa will take on Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Western State University. The Peacocks will open up the home slate on Nov. 15 in Fayette against Quincy University.
 
Christian Mosley | Waverly-Shell Rock HS | Waverly, Iowa | 6-0/185 | Guard
 
Christian Mosley, a 6-0 guard from Waverly, Iowa, helped lead Waverly-Shell Rock High School to the state basketball tournament twice in his career. Mosley scored 340 points, grabbed 162 rebound and threw out 141 assists in three years as a Go-Hawk.
 
Christian is the son of James and Amy Mosley and is undecided on his focus of study at Upper Iowa.
 
According to McKowen… "Christian comes from a great high school program that has a tradition in winning. We know that he is going to make everyone around him better and do whatever it takes to win. He has a great ability to defend the basketball and brings a toughness to the court every time he steps on it."

Munachiso Okonkwo | John Wood CC | Owerri, Imo, Nigeria | 6-9/245 | Forward

Munachiso Okonkwo, a 6-9 forward, transferred to Upper Iowa from John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill. Okonkwo played in 16 games and made one start last season for the Blazers. The Nigeria native averaged 5.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game last year.
 
Munachiso is the son of Bernard and Rebecca Okonkwo and is undecided on his focus of study at UIU.

According to McKowen… "Munachiso is a strong and athletic big that will help protect the rim. He has a defensive presence that will immediately make our team better. Offensively, he can finish at the rim with the best of them. He will also greatly improve our ability to rebound on both ends of the floor."
 
Peghuentz Pericles | Golden Gate HS | Naples, Fla. | 6-0/175 | Guard

Peghuentz Pericles, a 6-0 guard from Naples, Fla., helped lead Golden Gate High School to back-to-back District Championships. Pericles was a Southwest Florida Association of Basketball Mr. Basketball Finalist and a Southwest Florida Basketball All-Star. He also earned First-Team All-Conference honors playing for the Titans.
 
Peghuentz is the son of Perius and Mari Pericles and is majoring in business at Upper Iowa.
 
According to McKowen… "Peghuentz has outstanding range and an ability to get his shot off from anywhere. Even though he is very good offensively he comes from a program that values defense. He has the ability to get into opponents and make them very uncomfortable with the ball. He is one of the hardest workers I've seen and will always be pushing himself and his teammates."
 
Kam Rowan | Des Moines Area CC | Champaign, Ill. | 6-0/185 | Guard

Kam Rowan, a 6-0 guard, transferred to UIU from Des Moines Area Community College in Boone, Iowa. Last season for DMACC, the Champain, Ill. native made 14 appearances while starting 3 times. Rowan averaged 8.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 23.6 minutes per game.
 
Kam is the son of Kelvin and Carla Rowan and will major in sports communication at UIU.

According to McKowen… "Kam is a dynamic play-maker that takes a lot of pride in getting his teammates open shots. He will be a major threat with the ball in his hands and will fit in very well with our spaced-out offense. He will add some toughness and pressure to our defense as well."

Anthony Williams, Jr. | Chanhassen HS | Victoria, Minn. | 6-5/185 | Forward

Anthony Williams, Jr., a 6-5 forward from Victoria, Minn., converted 41% from the 3-point line as a senior at Chanhassen High School. Williams also led the team in blocks his senior season for the Storm.
 
Anthony is the son of Tony and Barb Williams and is undecided on his focus of study at Upper Iowa.

According to McKowen… "Anthony is a long, athletic forward that has the ability to make an impact on both ends of the court. He can guard multiple positions and could end up being a lock-down defender."
 
Jareese Williams, Jr. | Mason City HS | Mason City, Iowa | 6-2/170 | Guard

Jareese Williams, Jr., a 6-2 guard from Mason City, Iowa, earned many accolades at Mason City High School. As a senior, Williams was a First Team Northern Division and Second Team All-Conference player, scoring 276 points. As a junior for the Mohawks, the guard earned Second Team Northern Division and All-Area Globe Gazette honors. The four-time All-Conference Academic honoree and two-time captain scored 632 points, pulled down 156 rebounds, dished out 88 assists and swiped 35 steals in three varsity seasons.
 
Jareese is the son of Jareese Williams Sr. and Jamie Williams and will major in education at UIU.
 
According to McKowen… "Jareese has the ability to really score the basketball. He can score it a variety of ways and will be a guy that can really stretch the floor in our offense. Jareese also has the size and athletic ability to be a very good defensive player."