NEWARK, NJ—Drejon Scott, who made 86 three-point baskets and started at point guard for a team that won its first 30 games in his senior season in high school, is on his way to NJIT after signing a National Letter of Intent, men's basketball coach Jim Engles announced.

Scott, a 5-foot-10, 155-pounder named by the Richmond Times-Dispatch to its All-Metro second team, attends tradition-rich Petersburg (VA) High School, the alma mater of Hall of Famer Moses Malone.

Indeed, Scott's senior team at Petersburg, which would win the championships of Virginia's Central District and Central Region, renewed discussion in local news reports of Malone-led Petersburg teams that finished 25-0 and won state titles in the 1970s. The 2008-09 Petersburg Crimson Wave had a 30-0 start and the top regular season ranking in Virginia before losing in the state AAA semifinals to another 30-win team.

The loss in his final game was bittersweet for Scott, who was his team's game-leading scorer with 20 points and also crossed the coveted 1,000-point career barrier for coach Bill Lawson III. Petersburg also reached the state semifinals in 2008, when it finished 27-4 with Scott at the point in his junior year.

Scott netted 425 of his points as a senior, with a high of 36 on January 16 against Prince George (VA). Most noteworthy in that game, he was successful on a Petersburg school-record 10 of 11 attempts from three-point distance.

In all, he made 86 of 190 three-point tries in the season, including 5-for-7 in the season-ending game. He made at least one three-pointer in 28 of his team's 31 games.

In addition to the 36-point game, he had four games in the 20s and was a double-figure scorer in 21 of 31 games. Not surprisingly, he is a fine free throw shooter, connecting at a 76 percent rate in his senior year.

“He's a dynamic point guard and one of the top shooters in Virginia,” said Engles of a player who is expected to fill a major role from the beginning of his college career. “He's up to the challenge that he'll face here.

“He's very tough and a very good defensive player. He's played on a good team (57-5 his last two years) with good players (high school teammate Cadarian Raines is a forward headed to Virginia Tech), so he knows how to set guys up (as the point guard).”

Scott's three-point aptitude will be a welcome addition to NJIT, which often was dared by opponents to shoot from the outside the last couple of seasons. “He can pull up and bang a three, but he's also strong enough to finish in the paint,” Engles said.

NJIT is on track to become an active championship-eligible member of NCAA Division I late this summer and the Highlanders will begin play in the inaugural Great West Conference basketball season in 2009-10, as well. The new season, the first for Scott at NJIT, will open in mid-November.