AMERICUS – It was perhaps the most anticipated signing of a college scholarship by a student-athlete in Americus and Sumter County in quite a while. On Friday, May 3, Americus-Sumter High School basketball players, coaches, administrators, students and the family members of ASHS star power forward Joshua Lusane gathered inside the ASHS gymnasium to find out just where he would be playing college basketball.

On the table were six bags. Each bag had a logo on it representing the six schools Lusane had nailed down as his finalists: Alcorn State, Albany State, the University of Troy, Alabama State, Campbell University and Fort Valley State.

To have a little fun and increase the suspense among the crowd, Lusane slowly picked up each bag and then put them down, but finally, he reached for a hat and a shirt that read “Campbell University”. He then donned the cap, held up the shirt and proudly announced to the crowd that he was signing to play for Campbell, an NCAA Division 1 school located in Buise Creek, NC.

“During my visit to Campbell, I was impressed with the atmosphere, the facilities and everything about the school,” Lusane said. “It feels really good to have signed a scholarship. Everybody has supported me since day one. “ Lusane went on to say that he hopes to make a huge contribution to the program in both academics and athletics. According to Lusane, the coaches at Campbell plan to use him at the power forward spot.

There were other schools in addition to the ones represented on the signing table that wanted Lusane. Through all of the chaos, he was able to handle the recruiting process well. “The recruiting process was pretty good. I didn’t get a lot of my offers until around the end of the season,” Lusane said. He went on to say that Alabama State was a close second in his decision on where to go to college, followed by Alcorn State.

Before Lusane signed his letter of intent, ASHS boys’ basketball coach Michael Hoffpauir told the crowd assembled that it has been amazing coaching Lusane. “There have been some hard times and some sweet times,” Hoffpauir said. “He has always been a phenomenal player for us. He’s gotten things done for us. He’s handled his responsibilities well. He’s extremely coachable. That is going to lend itself very well at the next level. During the last five games of the season, I witnessed a tremendous change in his demeanor and how he carried himself, both in practice and in game situations. When I looked into his eyes, I knew we were going to win. That’s going to carry him to the next level.”

During the 2018-19 season, Lusane led the Panthers to a 26-5 record. The Panthers fought their way to the GHSA Class AAAA State Championship Game, where they lost a hard-fought contest to Carver (Columbus) 58-55. During his senior year, the 6’7 power forward averaged 17.3 points per game and eight rebounds per game.