May 17, 2010 - Four players, including two from Wisconsin, have signed national letters of intent to join the Hillsdale College men's basketball program starting with the 2010-11 season.

In May, coach Tharp added a fourth player to his recruiting class, seven-foot center Brandon Crane.

Joining the Chargers next year will be 6-foot-2 guard Brandon Pritzl, who hails from DePere, Wisconsin, 6-0 guard Derek Schell, who plays at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukehsa, Wisc., and 5-11 guard Cody Smith, from Lima, Ohio.

Pritzl played football and baseball, in addition to basketball, for the Red Birds of De Pere High School. He's been named First-Team All-Conference in each of his past two seasons, and as a junior in 2008-09, averaged 17 points, four rebounds and two assists per game while leading his team to a 16-7 record. The Red Birds were 6-15 in Pritzl's freshman year, and have improved by nearly 10 games over the past two seasons.

He is also a member of the school's student council. He has averaged double digit scoring in his first three seasons and in 2009, led his team to a regional championship.

Schell has enjoyed a successful career at Catholic Memorial. Through two seasons, his teams have a combined record of 31-13 and have won conference and regional championships. He averaged 10 points and five assists per game in 2009, while swishing 48 3-point field goals. He has 89 3-pointers in his two seasons with the varsity team.

He is also a two-time All-City and All-Conference selection and has served as team captain for two years. He is ranked by scouting services as one of the top 20 players in metro Milwaukee, and one of Wisconsin's top 50 players in his class. He currently ranks second in school history in scoring and assists.

Schell plays for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors AAU team. He also has spent time on the school's student council, International Outreach, National Honor Society and the Student Ambassadors.

Smith has improved his scoring average in each of his three varsity seasons at Lima Shawnee High School. His points per game average has risen from 10 to 13 to 16 points per game, and in 2009, also averaged four assists, three steals and three rebounds per game.

His teams have been among the tops in its league, compiling a league record of 22-5 over the past three seasons. In 2007-08, Lima Shawnee was league and sectional champions.

Smith is entering his fourth season as a starter with the team, and has been named All-League and All-Region three times. He was third in the state of Ohio in free throw shooting in 2008-09 (88.6 percent) and is just 132 points away from 1,000 for his prep career.

He plays for the Team CBIZ AAU club under coach Brian Bishop. He also earned two letters in soccer. He is part of the Western Buckeye League Sportsmanship Committee, and has served on his school's student government for two years.

Crane played varsity basketball at Midland High School for three years, and gave the Chemics a difference-making big man in the middle. He averaged more than four blocks per game in each of his last two seasons for MHS, and helped the team double its win total in 2009-10, from the year before.

He was a team captain for two years and broke school records for most blocked shots in a game (11), season (103) and career (223). He averaged 10 points per game as a senior, and is among the state of Michigan's all-time best shot blockers.

Crane also was a member of the National Honor Society and was part of the school newspaper's editorial board.