BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bellevue University men's basketball coach Lucas Gabriel announced today the signing of Paulo Araujo (Santa Ana, Calif./Santiago Canyon) to a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic careers at Bellevue beginning in the fall.
Araujo, a 6-3 guard and one of the nation's top three-point shooters, comes to Bellevue from Santiago Canyon College in Orange, Calif. where he played his first two collegiate seasons.
This past season, Araujo earned first team All-Orange Empire Conference honors after leading the Hawks to a 28-2 record, a share of the conference title, and a CCCAA Final Eight Appearance.
Araujo, during the 2019-20 campaign, averaged 10.6 points per game while improving his three-point percentage to a sharp-shooting 43.8 percent clip. He scored a career-high 29 points on 7-of-8 shooting from deep in an early-season win over Chaffey.
As a freshman during the 2018-19 season, Araujo 16.4 point per game scorer while helping lead the Hawks to a 20-win season, finishing the campaign at 20-9. He drained 80 treys at a 35.1 percent clip, including burying six three-pointers in a season-high 28-point performance against LA Trade Tech on Nov. 19. He matched that offensive output with 28 more in a two-point win at El Camino on Dec. 21. In total, he scored in double figures in all but four games and hit the 20-point plateau on 10 occasions, including three-straight times to end the season.
Araujo joins earlier announced signees Justin Motley (Cleveland, Ohio/Riverside CC/South Plains), Ryan Reed (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento CC), and Michael Wright (Sacramento, Calif./Cal State-L.A./CC San Francisco) in the Bruins' 2020 recruiting class.
Bellevue posted a 24-8 overall mark in 2019-20, including a 13-1 record in NSAA play as they claimed their 11th-straight regular-season title. In its storied history, the Bruin basketball program has won 32 conference championships, qualified for 19 NAIA National Tournament Appearances, and made four trips to the NAIA Fab Four, with all of those coming since the 1997-98 season.
Santiago Canyon College Stats:
| Season | GP | Pts (Gm) | Reb (Gm) | Asst | Stl | Blk | FG (Pct) | 3FG (Pct) | FT (Pct) |
| 2018-19 (Fresh.) | 29 | 476 (16.4) | 163 (5.6) | 43 | 52 | 1 | 160-359 (44.6) | 80-228 (35.1) | 76-115 (66.1) |
| 2019-20 (Soph.) | 29 | 308 (10.6) | 123 (4.2) | 42 | 20 | 1 | 104-211 (49.3) | 63-144 (43.8) | 37-47 (78.4) |
| Totals | 58 | 784 (13.5) | 286 (4.9) | 85 | 72 | 2 | 264-570 (46.3) | 143-372 (38.4) | 113-162 (69.8) |
