Edinburg, Texas - Dexter Shankle has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Texas-Pan American. He will be attending UTPA in the fall of 2004.

Shankle, a 6-0 senior guard, averaged 18 points, 3 rebounds, four assists and five steals per game for James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Texas. He was named the team Most Valuable Player, made All-District (19-5A) first team and was selected to the All-Region (3-5A) second team.

"We are really excited about Dexter coming to Texas-Pan American," said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman. "With his athletic ability, he is going to add depth at our guard position. Dexter will be able to create scoring opportunities for others as well as himself. He is a very good shooter from long range and he can defend big or small guards."

Shankle was a three-year letter winner for Head Coach Crandall at James E. Taylor High School. As a junior, he averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals a game. He was named the team MVP and was selected to the All-District (19-5A) first team. He averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, three assists and two steals a game and was All-District (19-5A) Second Team as a sophomore. He finished his high school career with almost 1500 points.

"Not even mentioning basketball, Dexter is a young man that I would be proud to call my son," said Coach Crandall. "His love and passion for the game accompanied with his desire to win is what makes Dexter a joy to coach. He has all the intangibles to make him a successful basketball player at the next level."

Shankle played AAU basketball with the Houston Westside All-Stars coached by Charlie Jones Jr. and Al Jones. Strong showings in tournaments in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, North Carolina and Indiana lay claim to them being among the top 25 AAU teams in the country. Shankle made the All-Tournament teams at the Spiece Run N Slam (Fort Wayne, Ind.), The Adidas Big Time Tournament (Las Vegas) and the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions (North Carolina).

"Dexter's athletic ability allows him to do so many things on the court," Said UTPA Assistant Coach Spencer Wright. "He is able to get to the rim off the dribble and shoot the ball from long or mid range. With the players we have coming back and then throw Dexter into the mix, you are going to see some serious battles in practice and that in turn should make us really good."