DAHLONEGA - University of North Georgia head men's basketball coach Dan Evans has announced three signees for the 2019 recruiting class: Mekhail Bethea, Josh Cottrell and Caleb Mauldin.
 
Bethea was a four year letterwinner for Dacula High School, being named to the 2019 All Gwinnett County, All-Region and All-State teams. He averaged 18 points per outing along with 3.6 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game as well. Shooting 41 percent from the floor, Bethea is a 1,000 point club member for the Falcons, scoring 1,301 points in his career. He was the 2018 Region Co-Player of the Year and was ranked the No. 3 point guard in the GHSA.
 
Cottrell played high school ball at Hayesville High School in North Carolina and will transfer to UNG from Western Carolina where he played for one season. He averaged 12.4 minutes per game for the Catamounts in 32 games, scoring 3.3 points per outing. He shot over 40 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from distance. In high school, Cottrell was the Conference Player of the Year his senior year, averaging 28.1 points per game in his final year with the Yellow Jackets. He scored 2,005 points in his prep career, besting his brother and current UNG senior, Zach, as the all-time leading scorer at HHS. He holds the single game and season scoring records with 46 and 711 points, respectively.
 
Mauldin played at West Rowan High School and graduated as a four year letterwinner. He scored 2,020 points and pulled down 1,500 boards in his career, averaging 24.5 points per game in his senior season. Named the Rowan County, Conference and Region Player of the Year, his point total is third all-time in Rowan County history behind Donte Minter and Scooter Sherrill, who attended Virginia and NC State, respectively. After finishing his prep career at West Rowan, Mauldin spent a year at Fork Union Military Academy as a postgraduate and graduated as an Officer.