Three-star recruit joins basketball team

Pat Birt (center) joins the men’s basketball team next season.

Pat Birt, a 6-foot-5 wing from Plano, Texas, will join the men’s basketball team next season.

Birt, a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com, will have four years of eligibility with the Flames.

“We’re excited to be able to bring a player of Pat’s caliber into our program this late in the spring period,” head coach Howard Moore said. “He’s going to be a solid addition with his size, athleticism and skill at the wing spot. Pat is a great student from a very good family, and fits the mold of what we’re looking for in our program going forward.”

Birt was a first team 5A All-State selection in Texas last season after averaging 17 points and seven rebounds per game during district play. The Panthers (26-4) finished the 2012-13 campaign No. 11 in the state.

Birt was named District 10’s “Most Valuable Player.”

“Pat flourished in his role as a go-to scorer for us last season,” East Plano head coach Jeff Clarkson said. “He was able to be a focal point of our offense. He has a ton of upside, and is very versatile. He can rebound the ball, he can shoot the ball and he can drive it.

“Pat is really just scratching the surface of the type of player he can be.”

Birt is the third player from Texas to join UIC’s basketball program under Moore, joining All-Horizon League point guard Gary Talton and Marc Brown.

Birt joins incoming freshmen Markese McGuire (6-3/200, G, Elkhart, Ind.) and Lance Whitaker (6-4/195, G/F, Bartlett), who signed National Letters of Intent last November, in UIC’s 2013 recruiting class.

Moore and his staff have one more scholarship available for the 2013-14 campaign.