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This time, Clemon Johnson didn’t enter the Nanooks locker room to talk to his team.

He just wanted to see how many lockers he had left.

Johnson and the Nanooks are running short of locker space after the men’s basketball coach signed three more players Friday.

“I actually had to go downstairs and count the locker space because I’m still looking for more people,” Johnson said. “I think I’m down to three lockers.”

He’s down to three roster spots after adding two Alaskan players and a YouTube all-star.

The new signees include Bristol Bay High School standout Mason King; Tony Wilson, who played at East Anchorage before spending two years at Yakima Valley Community College; and Kyle Rische, of Norwalk Conn., who comes to Alaska from Yuba College in Marysville, Calif.

“With these gentlemen, and the other gentlemen we have, I’m looking for continued progression of our team within the (Great Northwest Athletic Conference),” Johnson said. “If I compare this team with what we saw last year, we’ll definitely be in the middle of the pack. But the thing is, we’re not the only ones recruiting.”

King comes to the Nanooks off a stellar performance for the Angels in the Alaska Class 2A state basketball tournament, when he put up 99 points over three games to help Bristol Bay to a second-place finish.

The 6-foot King was named the Class 2A boys state Player of the Year.

After assistant coaches Adriaan Wakefield and Jocquis Sconiers returned from the state tournament raving about King, Johnson brought him up for a tryout and was impressed.

“The initial contact was made by my assistant coaches, but Mason came up for a weekend visit and he played along with JUCO players and our players. He inspired me with his ability to make plays and that he had no fear,” Johnson said. “He just walked on the floor and said, ‘Let’s play basketball.’”

King torched high school competition with his ability to create his own shot off the dribble or spot up from outside. And though the jump from Alaska Class 2A to NCAA Division II is a big one, Johnson said he won’t push King to redshirt, though he’ll keep the option open should King want to.

“To be honest with you, I had him penciled in as a backup two guard to play right away. Now that we’ve recruited people, I think we might put him on hold, but that’s his decision to make,” Johnson said. “We’ll see what Mason wants to do. I’m not encouraging anyone to redshirt because (with) injuries and academic situations, you never know what the future may hold.”

Wilson, who goes by Tony though his given name is David, comes to Alaska after averaging five points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals per game for the Yaks of Yakima, Wash.

The 6-foot-7 forward wasn’t initially on Johnson’s radar, but that all changed when Wilson gave the coach a call. Johnson flew Wilson up for a workout and after a strong performance, he decided to take a flier on the forward.

“He has the body size to bump people if we need that,” said Johnson, who never saw Wilson play in college. “It was a workout, that (strong performance) could be a facade. He just looked good in that workout and the level of competition wasn’t that good. But that was all I had to go off of and I said, ‘Hey, we’ll take a chance on this.’”

Johnson said Wilson could help the Nanooks running the fast break as a two guard or crashing the boards from the three.

Rische, a strong athlete, made a name for himself when he was featured on ESPN’s City Slam dunk competitions, where he qualified for the 2006 semifinals by winning the St. Louis regionals with tomahawk and windmill dunks that found their way to the Web site YouTube.

Rische set a Yuba College record for blocks in a game, rejecting 12 attempts in 28 minutes during his freshman season. Rische finished his time at Yuba College averaging five points, seven boards and 3.5 blocks per game.

“Kyle is an explanation on his own. If people go to the Web site and look at this man, you can see the talent level he has,” Johnson said. “The thing he’s missing that I saw, he’s not offensive minded, he’s not getting his shot.

“We’ll work on him scoring hook shots, getting post moves. Kyle is an individual I’m looking for to close down the lane for us. He’s going to be our shot blocker and he’s going to assist us in maintaining control of the rebounds.”