Six Monroe Mustangs have received scholarships to continue their basketball careers in the NCAA this fall. Two will be playing in Division I. Superstar forward Ryan Williams will suit up for St. John’s and jump-shooting forward Willie Youtchou will play at Northern Colorado. Swing guard Randy Alexandre will move on to Northern Michigan, Kevin Bell will play guard for Bowie State in Maryland, power forward Edward “Mike” Johnson will go to Angelo State in Texas, and point guard Elvis Rivera will be at St. Edwards University in Texas.

“We’re definitely proud of them,” said head coach Jeff Brustad. “We’ve had such talented players over the years and it gives us great satisfaction to see them take what they learned at Monroe to a higher level of basketball. I have every expectation that they’ll all do well.” Williams, a 6’6” jumping machine, electrified Monroe fans with his high-flying aerial shows. In 2002-03 he helped lead the Mustangs to their best-ever season, a 31-3 record and a fifth-place finish in the NJCAA national tournament. Williams was the team’s leading scorer that season averaging 16.6 ppg and shooting 57.1% from the field. He was named to the All-Tournament team in the national tournament and was the MVP of the District III tournament.

Youtchou, a likeable shooting star, shot a whopping 35.7% from three-point range in his two years at Monroe. He averaged 7.4 ppg for the Mustangs.  Alexandre played for Monroe for two years and was an important cog in the 24-9, 2003-04 Region XV Championship and District III Semifinal team. He averaged 8.2 ppg in his two years at Monroe and an unselfish 2 apg. point guard, was a team co-MVP during that magical 2002-03 season and was the team’s second leading scorer with 16.5 ppg. He led the team with 7.7 apg and hit 31% from beyond the arc. He was the Region XV MVP, averaged 15.5 ppg in the national tournament, and won the tournament’s Charles Sesher Sportsmanship Award.

Johnson was a mainstay in the front court for Monroe for two seasons. In his freshman campaign in 2002-03, he was the team leader shooting 60.1% from the floor. He followed that up with 56% shooting in 2003-04. He averaged 12.9 ppg and pulled down a solid 6.6 rpg at Monroe.  Rivera was the Mustangs’ point guard in 2003-04. He averaged 6.7 apg and 9.8ppg.