SAN ANGELO – Demario Mayfield has signed a professional basketball contract with Al Nift Iraqi Club after a dominant season where he led Angelo State in scoring and rebounding and helped the Rams to their first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history.

"This is really a blessing come true for me," Mayfield said. "After everything I've been through to get to this position is really humbling and exciting. I think this is the best opportunity for me at this time. After talking with some guys who I'm close with that are playing in Iraq I feel really comfortable with it."

The Al Nift Iraqi Club plays in the Iraq-Superleague and is located in Basra, Iraq. Mayfield will join the team in August and the season will run from September to April. The team's current roster has three Iraqi nationals along with Marshall Henderson and Marcel Anderson who are from the United States.

Mayfield, who played his senior season at ASU after one year at Georgia and two at Charlotte, led the Rams throughout the season in scoring and rebounding and completed his senior season averaging 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He was named a Lone Star Conference first-team selection was a two-time LSC Offensive Player of the Week last season and also earned one LSC Defensive Player of the Week honor. He earned conference and regional all-tournament teams for his production in the postseason tournaments and was an NABC and Daktronics All-South Central second-team selection.

A guard who played at the forward position for the Rams this season, Mayfield was among the most consistent players in the nation by scoring in double digits in 30 games and finishing the year with 271 rebounds which was the 25th most in the country. Mayfield finished the year second in the conference in scoring, rebounding, assists and with 51 total steals. His 134 total assists finished only behind Jones in the conference and is the 51st most in the nation. Mayfield had a career-best 24 points in the NCAA quarterfinals when he scored 24 points and had seven rebounds in a win over Commerce. He scored 20 or more points in 10 games and had three or more assists in 21 games.

"The Ram basketball family is very happy for Demario and proud of his accomplishments," ASU head coach Cinco Boone said. "Playing professionally has been a dream of his for quite some time and we love to see our former student-athletes achieve their goals. We are also extremely proud of the fact that he will be taking two classes in the Fall semester to finish up his online master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. We look forward to keeping up with all of his future success."

A Royston, Georgia native, Mayfield recorded 11 double-doubles this season and was the only LSC player to have a triple-double. He recorded his double-doubles this season against McMurry (14/11), Western State (23/11), UTPB (23/11), at McMurry (11/14), Arlington Baptist (14/10/13), Arkansas-Monticello (17/11), at Midwestern State (20/11), A&M-Commerce (16/11), West Texas A&M (20/13), at Tarleton State (12/13) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (19/14). His 11 double-doubles matches Marcus Hubbard (2005-06) for the third most in ASU's program history and is only behind Ed Wheeler who had 18 double-doubles in the 1992-93 season and 14 in the 1991-92 season. Mayfield is the only player in Angelo State history to record a triple-double after he went for 14 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a win over Arlington Baptist. He finished the season with 37 3-pointers which was the second most on the team behind only Marsell Holden who established a new program record with 105 3-pointers this season. Mayfield went 5-for-5 on 3-pointers in a win over Midwestern State in the regular season and had three 3-pointers in three other games.

"My time here at Angelo State has been incredible and has really helped me get things going in the right direction," Mayfield said. "Coach Boone, Beard and Dr. May didn't have to give me this opportunity and I know how lucky I am to have played here at Angelo State. My family is going to stay here in San Angelo for the next year while I'm in Iraq and that shows you how much we love this place. I was in a tough situation before I came here, but they took a gamble on me and my family and I really appreciative for everything. It's been a great experience and now I'm ready for the next step in my career."