Lights sign junior college transfer Anthony Mendez

The Montana State University-Northern Lights continue to build.

Northern head coach Shawn Huse recently announced 6-foot-4 Anthony Mendez of Merced, California, has signed with MSU-Northern Men's Basketball. Playing minutes at the forward and guard positions for Sierra College of Rocklin, California, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 95.2 percent from the free-throw line, and a remarkable 48.8 percent from the three-point line, in league play. The dead-eye shooter and crafty scorer had hit 10 straight threes at one point during the always tough Northern California competition this year. His efforts earned him Second Team All Big-8 Conference honors.

“Anthony is a guy who, simply put, lives in the gym,” said coach Huse “He is a self-made player who will make you pay if he gets an open look at all. He competes extremely hard and uses his intelligence to make things happen. We are very excited to have this marksman join our team as he has had a highly decorated high school career, and played his role extremely well these past two seasons. Coach Fusano (Sierra JC) and coach Derek (Golden Valley High School) run great programs and demand hard-nosed mentalities on their teams. Anthony fit that mold as he is an unselfish teammate who knows how to take charges and finds a way to get extra possessions for his team. We are very excited to have him join our already-talented group. He has that high level of character, grit, and toughness that helps you win games. With the guys we return and have already signed, Anthony is a great supplement to our team.”

MSU-Northern is coming off another very good season, winning 19 games, advancing to the conference semifinals, and narrowly missing the championship game in a two-point loss. They were just short of an NAIA at-large bid. The Lights graduated four seniors, three of which were starters, yet return a good deal of experience from the 2022-23 team.