ORANGEBURG, SC—South Carolina State head coach Murray Garvin has announced the signing of forward Damani Applewhite to a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play for the Bulldogs during the 2016-17 basketball season.
 
Applewhite (6-7, 195 Fayetteville, NC) is a forward who played his prep basketball at Westover High School. He averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and was ranked among the top 10 seniors in North Carolina. Applewhite earned numerous accolades during his senior year, including being named 2015 and 2016 All-Conference, 2016 All-District, 2016 All-Cape Fear Region, 2016 Basketball Elite All-State, and was selected to the 2016 North-South All-Star and 2016 East-West All-Star games.
 
"Damani is a fabulous addition to an already stellar recruiting class. He is the versatile wing\forward we desire and his ability to play either the wing or the power forward position will create matchup problems for our opponents, said Garvin. "He comes to us from Westover H.S. which is a powerhouse high school program in Fayetteville, NC that has produced numerous Division I basketball players over the years. His accolades speak for themselves."
 
In addition to SC State, Applewhite was recruited by several other Division I & II schools, among them The Citadel, The College of Charleston, Elizabeth City State, UNC-Pembroke, Belmont Abbey and Fayetteville State.