NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State men's basketball team announced the addition of two more newcomers for the 2024-25 season Wednesday.
 
Joining the NSU family are Florida A&M transfer point guard Love Bettis and freshman combo guard Justin Redmond, giving second-year head coach Rick Cabrera two more backcourt pieces.
 
"Love comes to us with a wealth of junior college championship experience and Division I experience," Cabrera said. "Love is a quick and tough guard who can run an offense and shoot the basketball. In the recruiting process, we evaluated his defensive toughness and his ability to be a playmaker, and he checked the boxes in those areas. We are looking forward to Love being an impact veteran player for us this coming year."
 
Bettis, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior from Pensacola, Florida, played the 2023-24 season at Florida A&M, averaging 11.3 points, 1.7 assists and one steal per game in six games.
 
In 2022-23, Bettis played at North Carolina A&T where he averaged 4.3 points per game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. Bettis had six double-figure scoring games for the Aggies, including a career-high 20 points against Elon.
 
In two seasons at Coffeyville Community College, Bettis helped lead the Red Ravens to the 2021 National Junior College Athletic Association national championship. An honorable mention All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference selection, Bettis averaged 11.5 points per game that season.
 
He followed that with a second-team NJCAA All-American performance as a sophomore, averaging 18.1 points per game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and 86 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Bettis was a four-year letterman at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola where he averaged better than 20 points per game in each of his final three seasons, topped by a 22.3 points per game average as a senior.
 
In each of his final three seasons at BTW, Bettis averaged at least 20.6 points, 2.2 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals per game. He finished his high school career with more than 1,800 career points as BTW collected three straight first-place district finishes. He graduated with a 3.5 grade point average and has maintained at least a 3.3 throughout college.
 
Redmond, a 6-2, 170-pound combo guard, spent the 2023-24 season at DME Academy, shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range. He was named a first-team all-star at the Big Shots Prep National event, scoring 12 points per game in four games. Redmond had 22 points in a win against United Scholastic Academy Prep from Canada during the event.
 
Prior to his post-graduate year at DME, Redmond played at South Gwinnett High School in metro Atlanta where he helped the Comets to a combined 37-20 mark in his final two seasons and graduated with a 3.4 grade point average.
 
"Justin is a very exciting freshman guard who can shoot, pass and dribble," Cabrera said. "That's been an emphasis in our recruiting, and he displays it very well. He has the potential to be a very good guard in this league. I'm really excited to coach him and watch his growth in this league."