Henry Dickerson needed to find big men as he takes his N.C. Central men's basketball program into NCAA Division I next season. 

So the veteran coach looked outside the country for some help. 

Marius Vaskys, a 6-9, 225-pounder from Lithuania, is one of three freshmen among the five signees the Eagles announced on Thursday. NCCU has no record of internationals playing men's basketball for the school in the past. 

The two other freshmen are 5-9 point guard Michael "Nuke" Glasker from Newport News, Va., and 6-3 combo guard John-Calvin Harris of Charlotte. 

The transfers are both backcourt players, 6-2 sophomore Vincent Davis from Motlow State C.C. in Lynchburg, Tenn., and 6-foot junior Goldsboro native Ashton Sauls, who played at Des Moines (Iowa) Area C.C. 

The five newcomers plus a half-dozen returnees from last season's 13-15 club will face the most challenging schedule in NCCU history, one which has not yet been released but will include more than a half-dozen road games against teams from the ACC and other so-called "power" conferences. 

Any of the freshmen could be eligible for NCCU's first season of championship eligibility in 2011-12 if he takes a redshirt season at some point in his career. 

"We know we're going to be good on the perimeter," said Dickerson, who before joining the Eagles' program in 2004 had been head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga for five seasons. "Our inside people have to be 'size' people. This is a process that's still in the works, going from Division II to Division I. 

"But I think I know more about what we need to be successful in Division I than I did when I came into Division II. All our recruits are strong academicallly." 

Vaskys held down the middle for Erwin Cape Fear Christian Academy after he arrived at the school in mid-January, and averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles. 

"He's your typical European player," Dickerson said. "He shoots well and handles the ball well." 

Cape Fear went 25-7 and won the Carolina Christian Conference, getting to the finals in the NCISAA state 1-A championships and the semifinals in the National Association of Christian Athletes tournament in Tennessee. 

Cape Fear athletics director Al Myatt, himself a post player at Wake Forest in the 1970s, said Vaskys is a good penetrator. 

"He's a great kid, very smart with a good sense of humor," said Myatt, who added that four other Division I schools had expressed interest in the center, who wanted to play at the top level right away. "He hit the winning basket against (two-time defending state 1-A champ) Wilson Greenfield in the state semifinals. I expect him to do well." 

Glasker played at Woodside High, averaging six points as the point guard on a team that finished 19-6. 

"He liked the coaches and the facilities at North Carolina Central," said his mother, Sherry Glasker. "And he wanted to major in business administration and liked the opportunities there." 

Harris played at Concord First Assembly Christian, which went 12-12 last season, averaging 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. 

"J.C. liked Coach Dickerson as soon as they met," said Calvin Harris, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who is the player's father. "Coach is like an extension of myself." 

Dickerson had a connection in signing Sauls, whose father Eddie was a football standout at Winston-Salem State when current NCCU athletics director Bill Hayes was the Rams' head coach. 

Women's team inks three 

Sherissa Mills, a forward from Winterville South Central, has signed a women's basketball letter of intent with N.C. Central. 

The 5-11 Mills will be among at least three newcomers to Joli Robinson's club as the most successful women's basketball coach in school history guides her program into NCAA Division I in the fall. 

"She's very athletic and can get up and down the floor," Robinson said of Mills. "She can rebound and shoot the mid-range jumper." 

NCCU went 26-6 last season and won the CIAA championship for the first time since 1984. 

Robinson already has a full cupboard of proven talent returning for next season. Cassie King (16.5 pts., 7.9 rebs.) -- the senior and leading scorer in school history whose jersey was retired before the Eagles' final regular-season game -- is the only player among the top nine scorers from last season who is not scheduled to return. 

Also joining the Eagles' team for next season will be a pair of Prop 48 players who were in school this academic year. 

Katrice Elliott, a 6-3 post player from Apex, was at the Eagles' practices most of last season. The other is 5-11 forward Jasmine Hayes from Dover (Del.) High. 

"Katrice worked hard and continues to get stronger," Robinson said. "And she's learning some good post moves. 

"Jasmine is very strong, and I think she's going to be a good leader for us."