MEET THE CLASS OF 2023 (VIDEO)


(NEWARK, NJ) -- National Signing Day annually makes November a busy time for college basketball programs. This past November, the Highlanders had a lot more to be thankful for aside from the historical 7-1 start on the court in the opening month of the season.
 
NJIT announced the signing of five high-caliber recruits – giving the Highlanders one of the biggest recruiting classes in the country and most extensive group of early commits in program history. The list includes Byron Breland III (Hamden, CT), Da'Mir Faison (Hazelton, PA), Caleb Matthews (Smyrna, DE), Xavier Mayo (Beacon, NY) and Levar Williams (Dorchester, MA).
 
"First of all, I want to thank my staff for a tremendous job with the 2019 Highlanders recruiting class," said NJIT Head Coach Brian Kennedy, whose team is now 8-2 and off its best start since the program transitioned to Division-I in 2006-07. "To target and come away with five recruits who all signed early is a direct reflection of their hard work and speaks volumes of the world class education offered here at NJIT."
 
 
Byron "Tre" Breland III – Hamden Hall (6'4")
A senior at Hamden Hall Country Day School in Connecticut, Breland is a high-level athlete with a strong and still-evolving frame. After starring two seasons at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, he earned All-USA Today Connecticut Boys Basketball Second-Team honors in his first year at Hamden Hall. His game continued to develop when he started playing AAU ball in the spring with We-R1 (Trenton, NJ), as he asserted himself as one of the best perimeter defenders on a team loaded with high-major talent. In July, he helped We-R1 advance to the championship game of the UAA Finals in Las Vegas. During his recruitment, Breland was drawing offers as high as the Atlantic 10 Conference. The shooting guard ranks as the No. 7 prospect in the state according to maxpreps.com.
 
"I love Tre's approach to the game. He is as competitive a player as I have seen in some time," Kennedy said. "Not only is he a tremendous athlete, he is always in attack-mode on both sides of the court. He has a chance to be one of the best defenders in the conference. He will delight Highlanders fans with his tenacity and his flair on the court."
 
 
Da'Mir Faison – Hazelton HS (6'5")
Faison is a very talented slasher and rebounder from the wing, using his 6'8" wingspan. During his junior year at Hazelton (PA) High School, he helped lead his squad to the PIAA Class 6A finals in averaging 13.2 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game. In a 76-74 thriller in the semifinals against Lincoln High, he tallied 17 points in an overtime victory. He also played a significant role in a 2016-17 D2-6A championship season as a sophomore. Faison plays AAU for Playaz Club Nikeu17 (Patterson, NJ) – a program that has produced NBA stars such as Vince Carter, Wayne Ellington and J.R. Smith. He drew significant Division-I interest.
 
"Da'Mir is a special kid. He is very mature and displays great leadership qualities. I love the way he interacts with his teammates and classmates off the court," Kennedy said. "On the court, his extreme versatility stood out to me. He has as high a ceiling as any recruit NJIT has ever landed. The sky is the limit for Da'Mir."
  
 
Caleb Matthews – Mount Zion Prep (6'4")
Matthews is currently playing at Mount Zion Prep near Baltimore after a standout career at Smyrna (DE) High School. As a senior, Matthews was honored as Delaware's 2017-18 Gatorade State Boys Basketball Player of the Year after averaging 21.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg and 4.7 apg while shooting better than 40-percent from deep. He also guided Smyrna to back-to-back DIAA state championship games – and a title in 2017. As a junior, he was a First-Team All-State selection and a participant in Delaware's Blue-Gold All-Star Game. The sharpshooting guard has continued to add weight and strength to his frame while playing AAU for the Jersey Force (Ocean Township, NJ) and at prep school. Matthews drew scholarship offers from several Division-I programs in the region.
 
"When recruiting players for NJIT, I always look for three things: academics, character and skill. Caleb definitely checks these boxes," Kennedy said. "Labeled as an excellent shooter with great range and a high basketball IQ, Caleb is much more than that. He has great court vision and has proven to be a terrific passer. He is currently attending prep school this year, which will further his development on and off the court."
 
 
Xavier Mayo – The Hill School (6'8")
Mayo is a physical post player in his second year at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., after playing as a freshman at Poughkeepsie Day School (NY) and as a sophomore at Beacon (NY) High School. As a junior, Mayo was a key cog for a team that went 19-7 and won the Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association state championship. According to his head coach Phil Canosa, Mayo was the team's best defensive forward while averaging six points and six rebounds per game. As a sophomore at Beacon, he averaged 9.2 ppg, 12.9 rpg and 2.0 bpg. Recruited by a plethora of Division-I programs in the northeast, Mayo plays AAU for City Rocks NY 17U Nike EYBL (Albany, NY).
 
"Xavier comes from one of the top academic schools [The Hill School] in the country," Kennedy said. "He has an old-school post game, yet can also step out and shoot from mid-range as well as from beyond the arc. A very physical player, Xavier is a natural rebounder who plays with a high motor and has a knack for finding the ball. Rebounding is part of his DNA."
 
 
Levar Williams – Jeremiah Burke HS (6'0")
Williams has been a trail blazer at Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, Mass. -- becoming the first male basketball athlete to earn a Division-I scholarship in school history as well as the first male athlete to go directly from Boston Public Schools to a D-I program in more than a decade, according to his head coach Sean Ryan. As a junior, the guard set a school record by draining 128 three-pointers while leading Burke to its first sectional championship since 1998. Sharp on and off the court, he was named All-Scholastic by both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. He joined the prestigious Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) AAU program this past summer and was named to the Nike EYBL All-Breakout Team after emerging as one of the most consistent three-point threats in the league. He finished the season as the team's second-leading scorer at 12.8 ppg while connecting on 45-percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
 
"Levar is a true winner both on and off the court and displays maturity beyond his age," Kennedy said. "Not only does is he one of the top jump shooters in the class, he possesses an unparalleled work ethic matched with toughness and a high basketball IQ. He has overcome obstacles in his life to become a self-made, high-level student athlete. I love his character."

 
Kennedy's last recruiting class was also widely heralded, as NJIT landed three high-level international student athletes in current freshmen Souleymane Diakite (Mali), Kjell de Graaf (Netherlands) and Diego Willis (Mexico).

The Highlanders (8-2) are next home Dec. 8 against St. Francis Brooklyn (5-3) at the Wellness and Events Center for a 4 p.m. tip. Tickets, mini plans and group outings are available for purchase online at www.NJITTix.com. For more information, please call our ticket office via phone at 973-596-5555 or email at tickets@njit.edu.