Ex-Morro Bay High basketball standout Solomon Ruddell signs with UC Irvine

Former Morro Bay High School standout Solomon Ruddell will be returning to the West Coast next fall when he joins the UC Irvine men’s basketball team for the 2017-18 season.

A 7-foot-1, 255-pound center, Ruddell signed a National Letter of Intent in November to play for Anteaters’ head coach Russell Turner in the Big West Conference.

Signing with UC Irvine was several years in the making for Ruddell.

As a sophomore at Morro Bay in 2014, Ruddell averaged 10.8 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.6 blocks per game for a Pirates team that went 2-24 overall.

Eager to play against better competition, Ruddell moved across the country to attend The Hill School, a preparatory boarding school located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Ruddell averaged eight points, five rebounds and two blocks for Hill last season, shooting 55 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free-throw line.

“Solomon has worked hard to improve in his three years at Hill,” boys basketball coach and athletic director Seth Eilberg said on the school’s website. “His best basketball is still ahead of him, as he continues to improve his strength and quickness. He has an uncanny skill set, shooting touch and feel for the game that few players his size do.”

Ruddell has been on UC Irvine’s radar for years, Turner said.

The Anteaters fielded perhaps the tallest team in college basketball last season, with four players on the roster 6-10 or taller, most notably the 7-6 Mamadou Ndiaye.

“We will continue the trend of having difference-making size on our roster,” Turner told ucirvinesports.com. “… I am excited about his combination of skill, size and drive to be better.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Ex-Morro Bay High basketball standout Solomon Ruddell signs with UC Irvine."