RECRUITING: Desert Oasis forward Coleman commits to Air Force

Desert Oasis senior Aamondae Coleman on Wednesday announced his commitment to play basketball at Air Force.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 195-pound forward committed to the Falcons a little more than two weeks after receiving a scholarship offer. It was his only formal offer.

“I feel great about it,” Coleman said. “They’ve been recruiting me for about two years now and I feel like it’s the best opportunity for me after basketball.

“I hope it leads to great things. I put a lot of expectations on myself. I just want to continue getting better. I’m going to go there and work as hard as I can.”

Coleman, the son of former NBA first-round pick Marcus Fizer, averaged 18.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots as a senior en route to earning first-team all-state honors this past season.

He shot 55 percent from the field and led the Diamondbacks to the Division I Sunset Region semifinals and to a 19-10 record.

“If he can do at Air Force what he did here, they are getting a great player,” Desert Oasis coach Ryan Fretz said. “He came in as a lanky kid that was throwing the balls into the speakers and trying to dunk but was getting stuffed at the rim. And he was getting sick of that. He was a sponge. He listened to the coaching staff. That propelled himself into a great player.”

Coleman, a three-year varsity player, dramatically improved each year at Desert Oasis and Fretz believes that trend will continue at Air Force.

Coleman played primarily power forward in high school, but projects as a small forward at the collegiate level.

“It’s a great feeling to know all of my hard work has paid off,” Coleman said. “There were times it was frustrating, when I didn’t know where I was going.”

Coleman is the second area senior to commit to Air Force, joining Durango’s Jason Landman.

“His commitment to Desert Oasis always has been No. 1,” Fretz said. “I want to publicly thank Aamondae for putting the work in and leading us to a great couple of seasons. He took a lot of pressure and made us look good.”