NIACC's Dean signs with Saint Martin's University

LACEY, Wash. – NIACC sophomore Chandler Dean signed a national letter of intent Tuesday to play basketball at Saint Martin's University.

Dean, a 6-foot-5 inch forward from South Jordan, Utah, averaged 6.9 points and 5.9 rebounds for NIACC in his sophomore season.

Saint Martin's University, a NCAA Division II school, was 6-23 overall and 4-16 in the Great Northwest Atlantic Conference in 2019-20 under first-year coach Aaron Landon.

The Great Northwest Atlantic Conference is an 11-team league that includes schools in Alaska, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Dean was part of two NIACC teams that was a combined 50-12 from 2018-20 and played in two NJCAA Region XI title games. The Trojans were 25-5 in 2018-19 and 25-7 in 2019-20.

"Most important, he's coming from a winning program that won 50 games over the last two years," Landon said. "That's the most important statistic in my eyes.'

Landon said he likes Dean's all-around game.

"Chandler impacts the game in other ways than scoring," Landon said. "That is really important to us.

"He rebounds with a great motor, can play at the top of the press and competes without the ball."

Dean, who scored 409 career points and grabbed 294 career rebounds, brings some intangibles to the Saints, according to Landon.

"Chandler is a great student, which is very important to us," Landon said. "I think he'll bring some toughness and physicality that we need.

"He played a lot of this season on a hurt ankle. The fact that he knows how to play when he's hurt and will push through that to compete in meaningful moments shows toughness and commitment to his teammates and coaches."