FAIRFIELD, Conn. - On Aug. 5 the Philadelphia 76ers signed former Fairfield University men's basketball player, Deng Gai to a rookie free agent contract. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Gai finished the 2004-05 season, as the nation's leading shot blocker, averaging 5.5 rejections per contest. He finished his career averaging 4.44 blocks per game, which places him eighth on the NCAA Division I all-time list. His 444 career blocks ties him for sixth all-time with Ken Johnson '01 of Ohio State.

Last season, the 6-foot-9 forward had three games with 10 or more block shots, including a career-high 13 against Siena College on Jan. 22. It was one shy of the NCAA single-game block record.

He averaged 13.9 points per game, and 8.5 rebounds per contest as a senior, to finish his career with 1,268 points, which ranks 13th all-time at Fairfield, and 699 rebounds, which is 11th on the school's all-time caroms list.

Gai received the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Defensive Player of the Year award for the third time in his career following the 2004-05 campaign. In addition, he was a two-time All-MAAC first team selection, and earned a spot in the All-MET Team this past season.

The men's basketball team, under Head Coach Tim O'Toole, finished the 2004-05 season with a 15-15 overall record and third in the MAAC regular-season standings.

In addition, the Sixers also signed Shavlik Randolph from Duke to a free-agent contract. Philadelphia finished last year, with a 43-39 regular season record, and a second place finish in the Atlantic Division. In the playoffs the Sixers fell to the Detroit Pistons in the first-round.