Hours before he was supposed to meet with the media Tuesday afternoon and address his Class of 2018 fall signing class, Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury added a major piece to it.

The Hilltoppers announced the signing Tuesday morning of 6-foot-7 wing Dalano Banton, a Class of 2019 prospect who chose to reclassify to the Class of ’18. The Rexdale, Toronto, native is averaging about 30 points a game early this season for Redemption Christian Academy in Northfield, Mass.

Banton became the fifth fall signee for Stansbury in this class and, according to the coach, is one that people might not have expected WKU to land.

“I always say you’ve got to have guys that you’re not supposed to have, or guys people don’t think you’re supposed to have,” Stansbury said in the hours after Banton’s signing. “We think we’re supposed to have them, but other people don’t think you are. You’ve got to have one of those guys. He’s one of them.”

Stansbury used those same statements this time last year to describe Class of 2017 fall signees Josh Anderson and Mitchell Robinson. Anderson is a freshman on the Topper team but is still awaiting NCAA clearance to play, while Robinson enrolled at WKU but left in September to begin training for the 2018 NBA Draft.

Banton is rated a four-star prospect by both Rivals and 247Sports and was previously rated as the No. 93 prospect nationally in the 2019 class by Rivals, as well as the No. 99 prospect by 247Sports Composite.

247Sports Composite ranks him as the third-best player in Massachusetts in the 2019 class and the 17th-best player overall at his position.

Banton also holds reported scholarship offers from Kansas State, Massachusetts and Minnesota.

Stansbury credited first-year assistant coach Marc Hsu for building relationships that led to Banton’s signature.

“He was a young man that people hadn’t totally zeroed in on yet because he was in the ’19 class,” Stansbury said. “Everyone thought he was a junior. He played on an offbeat AAU team but was still a Top 100 player.

“I can promise you, if he was on a top AAU team that got some exposure, which he would’ve this year, he was going to explode. Coach Hsu did a great job in that situation getting that one, and a really good kid.”

Stansbury praised Banton’s scoring ability, saying that he and fellow fall signee Trevelin Queen, a junior college prospect, are both natural scorers from the perimeter. Stansbury also said Banton can “facilitate” within a team’s offense and get teammates involved.

“He’s got good size at 6-7, great perimeter skills, a great feel for how to play, can score it multiple ways, but a really, really good passer at the same time,” Stansbury said. “He’s got a high, high ceiling.”

Banton’s signing was a strong finale to the fall signing period for Stansbury’s Hilltoppers. WKU inked five prospects: Class of 2018 prep recruits Banton, Jeremiah Gambrell and Galen Smith III and JUCO players Queen and Matthew Horton.

The Houston native Gambrell is the point guard of the group. Banton and Queen are athletic wings, while Horton (6-foot-11) and Smith (6-10) will bolster WKU’s frontcourt when they arrive before the 2018-19 season.

Stansbury still has scholarships left to use on spring recruits, or to use on potential mid-year transfers in December after the fall semester ends.

“We have some kids I think are quality people,” Stansbury said. “I think they’ve all got a big upside because the work ethic they bring. … We like all five of them as people and think they all have great upside.”{&end}