PROVO -- BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose announced Friday that Luiz de Toledo, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Araraquara, Brazil, has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for the Cougars.
"Luiz is an excellent addition to our program," Rose said. "He adds great athleticism to our team. Our staff is excited that Luiz has chosen BYU."
An extremely athletic player with excellent size, de Toledo is a high school senior at Modesto Christian High School, a central California power that went 28-7 last year and finished second in Northern California. Modesto Christian coach Gary Porter has had players sign in recent years with schools such as Kentucky, California, Washington and Oregon State.
This is de Toledo's second year at Modesto Christian, although he had to sit out his first season after arriving from Brazil. His home in Brazil is near the border of the Western Paulista Plateau, approximately 150 miles from Sao Paulo.
BYU has signed four Brazilian players in recent years. The Cougars signed center Rafael Araujo and guard Luiz Lemes in their 2002 class and current Cougar forward Fernando Malaman committed to BYU last spring. Araujo went on to earn All-America honors and become an NBA lottery pick, while Lemes was the Cougars' assist leader on their 2004 NCAA team and is now playing professionally in Brazil. Malaman is a junior in his first year at BYU.