1 week Ago
BOZEMAN — Montana State men's basketball coach Matt Logie announced the signing of two recruits on Friday for the class of 2025. Howie Keene — a 6-foot-7 wing from The Woodlands, Texas — and C.J.
Purdie — a 6-4 combo guard from Davidson, North Carolina — will join the Bobcats next summer in Bozeman. Keene is rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports, which ranks him the No. 78 small forward in the class and No.
33 prospect in Texas. He committed to MSU in September . "Howie possesses great positional size at 6 feet, 7 inches with the ability to really pass and shoot the basketball," Logie said.
"His length and competitiveness are two things we are always looking for, but when you couple that with his basketball IQ and overall skill set you have the makeup of a very good prospect. Howie is someone that takes pride on the defensive end of the floor and has shown terrific maturity and leadership ability as well. We look forward to Howie and his family joining our Bobcat Basketball family!" Last season as a junior at The Woodlands Christian Academy, Keene averaged 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game as the Warriors finished runner-up at the state tournament.
On the defensive end, he also averaged three steals and three blocks per game on the way to All-State First Team and All-District First Team honors. As a sophomore, Keene was selected to the all-state first team and the all-district team after averaging 11 points and six rebounds per game. Keene holds a 3.
8 GPA and has lettered four years in golf. "Howie Keene is someone that we were very excited about from Day 1 of the evaluation process," Logie said. The forward's father, Rich, was a McDonald's All-American who played at Illinois (1992-96), where he scored 1,145 points and ranks among the school's career leaders in 3-pointers (237) and assists.
During his four years in Champaign, Rich helped the Illini reach three NCAA tournaments and one NIT. Howie's brother, RJ, plays basketball at Boise State and his sister, Sophia, plays volleyball at Baylor. Purdie is rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports, which considers him the No.
42 combo guard in America and the No. 26 prospect in North Carolina. "Purdie possesses terrific positional size," Logie said.
"In addition to being a good 3-point shooter, CJ is a slippery ball handler who has the ability to create his own shot in a variety of ways, utilizes ball screens to create offense for himself and teammates and excels as a finisher in transition." Last season as a junior at Combine Academy, Purdie set the career record for a junior season averaging 19 points per game. On the AAU circuit, Purdie also honed his skills in the Overtime Elite League.
As a sophomore, Purdie averaged 15 points and five rebounds per game to follow up a freshman campaign in which he averaged 20 points and six rebounds per game. Entering his senior season, the guard holds a 3.67 GPA.
Purdie is the cousin of 12-year NBA veteran and current New Orleans Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum, who Logie originally helped recruit to Lehigh.
Purdie is also the cousin of Errick McCollum, who is in his 14th year of playing professional basketball overseas. "C.J.
Purdie is another young man who comes from an extremely successful athletics family with whom I have had a relationship with for many years as his two cousins C.J. and Errick McCollum have spent over a decade each at the highest levels of professional basketball," Logie said.
"Purdie has followed in their footsteps with his work ethic and character on and off the court and we feel his best basketball is in front of him. We are thrilled to add CJ Purdie to our Bobcat Basketball family!" Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
