PORTLAND, Ore. --- The University of Portland men’s basketball program has signed reigning Oregon ‘5A’ State Player of the Year Jake Ehlers (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis HS) to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Eric Reveno announced on Wednesday. Ehlers led Corvallis High School to a 27-1 record and the Oregon ‘5A’ state championship as a junior last season and will join the Pilots for the 2012-13 school year.

“We are very pleased to welcome Jake Ehlers to the Pilot family,” Reveno said. “We feel Jake is a perfect fit for our program. He has a tremendous combination of basketball skill, athleticism and also has a very high basketball IQ. He is a versatile forward that will flourish in our system. Jake is a winner, stepping up last year and leading his team to a state championship. He has shown a strong desire to improve as a basketball player and a great capacity to learn.”

Ehlers (6-7, 200) averaged 22 points on 58 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from three-point range as a junior last season. He also pulled down seven rebounds per game and carried the Spartans to a 79-73 double overtime win in the state championship game over Benson, finishing with 36 points on 13-of-18 shooting.

Ehlers was recently named to Oregon’s All-State First Team by ESPN.com and is rated as the No. 68 power forward on the same site.

Portland, coming off of back-to-back 20-win seasons, has only two seniors and three total upperclassmen on the 2011-12 roster. The program has advanced to the postseason each of the last three years. The Pilots open the 2011-12 regular season at the World Vision Classic in Seattle this weekend. Saturday’s opener features Portland versus Florida Atlantic at 11:30 a.m.