Elgin, Ill. – Signing two more top recruits for the Judson University men's basketball program, head coach Tony Tompkins has signed Nathan McNeely (Monmouth, Ill.) and Josh Edwards (Mapleton, Ill.). Both athletes have had successful high school careers.

Coming from Spoon River College, McNeely has three years of eligibility left to play basketball.  He played his high school basketball at Monmouth HS where he was the leading scorer and MVP of his team. The four-year varsity letter was named all-Conference all four years of his career.

In his senior season, he claimed two "Player of the Year" awards in his senior season in the Registermail and Review Atlas. He was also named to the All-Olympic Conference First-Team. As a junior, he was an All-State selection on the third-team and was the team's MVP while leading the team in scoring and rebounding. He was also named to four First-Teams for Registermail, Review Atlas, Rock Island Argus, and Olympic Conference. As a freshman and sophomore, he was named to the Tip Off Classic All-Tournament Team and to the Praire Land All-Conference team. In his freshman year, he led the team in assists.

McNeely is the son of Gerry and Donna McNeely and has one sister Tiffani.

Edwards is coming to Judson from Illini Bluffs High School where he was a three-time all-State selection. He gained All-State Third-Team status as a senior and then was an All-State Honorable Mention selection as a sophomore and junior. The two-time All-Tomahawk and ICAC First-Team selection averaged 23.4 points per game, 4.6 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game as a senior. Statistically, he made 58% of his shots from the floor and 49% from the three-point line. He was a unanimous selection to the All-Tournament teams for the Warrior Classic and the Williamsville Holiday Tournament. His accolades were also good enough to have him nominated for four all-star games in the Tomahawk vs. Praireland game, IBCA All-Star game, Heart of Illinois North vs. South game, and the Kiwanis Club All-Star game.

As a sophomore, Edwards was an All-Tomahawk and ICAC Second-Team selection and averaged 9.6 points per game. In his junior year, he was named the Journal Star "Athlete of the Week" twice while averaging 18.2 points per game. He also won the three-point contest in the regional, sectional, and super-sectional competitions and qualified for state. Overall in his career, he has scored more than 1,500 points and had 30 or more points in 12 different games.

Academically, he is a member of the National Honor Society and has been on the honor roll all four years. He is the son of Vince and Cathy Edwards.

Judson is coming off their finest season, ever, in the history of the program as they won their first-ever CCAC regular season and tournament championships. They also advanced to their first-ever NAIA National Tournament in Missouri. Judson finished 19-9 overall and were 10-2 in the CCAC. They also posted a program best seven-game winning streak during the season. The 2008-09 season will be the first for Tony Tompkins as head coach at Judson.