DURANGO, Colo. — Fort Lewis College men’s soccer coach Oige Kennedy announced that English-born player Sameth Al-Basith has enrolled in classes this semester and has joined the Skyhawks in their defense of the NCAA Division II national championship.

“Sameth is a player that we are extremely excited to add to our roster for the upcoming spring,” said Kennedy, who guided the Skyhawks to their third NCAA Division II title since 2005 last month. “We fell he will bring energy to the team and will be hungry for success, which is the cutting edge we will need from all our players. He has a tremendous soccer resume and we are excited to see him on the field with the rest of our returning guys.”

Al-Basith transferred to Fort Lewis from East Tennessee State University, where he attended classes last semester but did not play soccer. The 5-foot-8, 150-lb. central midfielder has four years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

He played club soccer in the London area for Cardiff City FC and West Ham United FC.

Al-Basith plans on majoring in Business Administration at Fort Lewis.

Kennedy is expected to announce more recruits on or after Feb. 1, 2012, which is the National Letter of Intent day for soccer. Because Al-Basith has already started taking classes at Fort Lewis, FLC was able to announce his transfer once the current semester had begun.

The Skyhawks captured their third NCAA Division II championship in 2011, having previously won national titles in 2005 and 2009. FLC was national runners-up in 1999 and 2006. Fort Lewis posted a 24-1-0 overall record, 13-1-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games. The Skyhawks also won NCAA-II Central Region, RMAC regular season, and RMAC tournament titles.

Fort Lewis loses seven seniors to graduation: Defenders Berekk Blackwell and Fabian Kling, midfielders Cory Dean, Markus Lux, and Joey Madigan, forward Thomas Hoang, and goalkeeper Ryan Wirth.

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