NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Thursday the signing of two men's basketball transfers. That increases the Gold Rush's recruiting class to five for the 2019-20 season.
     The most recent XULA signees are:
     •  Drew Buggs, a 6-foot-6 forward from Sacramento, Calif., Cosumnes Oaks High School and two-year Cosumnes River College, also in Sacramento.
     •  Ethan White, a 6-3 guard-forward from San Antonio, Texas, East Central High School and Our Lady of the Lake University, also in San Antonio.
     Buggs averaged 10.2 points and 7.6 rebounds and shot 56.1 percent from the floor in 2018-19 for Cosumnes River. As a sophomore at Cosumnes Oaks, he helped the Wolfpack earn a share of the Capital Valley Conference championship, then reach the Northern California Regional Division II semifinals.
     "Drew has a huge ceiling," XULA head coach Alfred Williams said. "Great athlete. Great motor. He has a nice work ethic. Drew comes from a great family with great values. He's going to be really good for us."
     White this past season made 48.4 percent of his 3-pointers (46-of-95) to rank sixth in accuracy in NAIA Division I. He averaged 13.2 points and 4.3 rebounds and made 5-of-7 3s at home against then-top-ranked LSU-Alexandria, an NAIA national quarterfinalist.
     White averaged 8.1 points and three rebounds his freshman season (2017-18) at two-year Lamar State College-Port Arthur. As a senior at East Central he was the District 28-6A MVP and was academic all-district four consecutive seasons.
     "Ethan is a versatile player with great shooting ability," Williams said. "He's a great student with an unbelievable work ethic. He, too, comes from a great family with great values."
     Buggs and White will be juniors in 2019-20. Buggs will major in sociology at XULA, and White will major in business administration.
     Previously signed were guards Nigel Allen of Port Allen, La., Port Allen High School and two-year Western Texas College, TJ Jones of Opelousas, La., and Lafayette Christian Academy and Cameron Wells of Murphy, Texas, and Wylie High School.
     XULA was 18-14 this past season and reached the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

2019-20 XULA Men's Basketball Signees
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.*	Hometown	High School (Previous College)
Nigel Allen	G	6-2	165	Jr.	Port Allen, La.	Port Allen (Western Texas JC)
Drew Buggs	F	6-6	210	Jr.	Sacramento, Calif.	Cosumnes Oaks (Cosumnes River JC)
TJ Jones	G	5-8	165	Fr.	Opelousas, La.	Lafayette Christian Academy
Cameron Wells	G	6-1	185	Fr.	Murphy, Texas	Wylie
Ethan White	G-F	6-3	185	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas	East Central (Our Lady of the Lake)
* XULA athletic classification in 2019-20