COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A two-time Colorado 5A state champion will join the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team for the 2016-17 season as the fourth member of the Mountain Lion recruiting class. Padiet Wang, a graduate of Overland High School in Aurora, Colo., signed at National Letter of Intent with UCCS.

"We are very excited about having Padiet join our program," said Head Men's Basketball Coach Jeff Culver. "He is a proven winner on the court as well as in the classroom."

Wang averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.8 blocked shots per game in 18 games after he returned to Overland at the semester and led the Trailblazers to the 5A state championship. He spent the first half of his season at Eagle River Christian Prep in Fairbanks, Alaska. Wang averaged 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals during his junior season in the run to the state championship in 2015.

Wang joins two Colorado Springs student-athletes, Will Ross and Justin Smith, and Aurora's Geoffrey Kelly, as members of the 2016 recruiting class for the Mountain Lions. Wang and Smith both won back-to-back state championships at the 5A and 4A levels. UCCS will have seven student-athletes on the roster in 2016-17 with a combined nine state championship titles. 

The Mountain Lions qualified for its third straight RMAC Tournament and won at least 15 games for the fifth time in program history this season. UCCS finished with an All-American on the roster for the third straight season as Alex Welsh earned national recognition from the Division II Bulletin.