Dowagiac’s Dontel Highsmith will sign a national letter of intent to play basketball for Northern Illinois Wednesday afternoon. (Leader photo/File)

Two of the top guards in the Wolverine Conference will sign their national letters of intent to continue their basketball careers Wednesday.

Dowagiac senior Dontel Highsmith and Edwardsburg senior Josh Kozinski will both join the Mid-American Conference as the national early signing period kicks off.

Highsmith will attend Northern Illinois next season, while Kozinski will sign with Central Michigan.

The early signing period runs through Nov. 21.

Dontel Highsmith

The 6-foot-3 point guard led the area in scoring last season with an average of 27.8 point per game. Highsmith also averaged nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. But the way the season ended, with the Chieftains being upset in the districts by South Haven, left a bad taste in his mouth.

Highsmith said that he was glad to get the recruiting process wrapped up prior to the beginning of the season so that he can focus all his attention on his goal of getting Dowagiac back to the Breslin Center at Michigan State.

As a sophomore, Highsmith helped the Chieftains reach the Class B state semifinals before being knocked out of the tournament by Muskegon Heights.

Highsmith, who also plays football and runs track, still has some other unfinished business on the basketball court this winter.

He is just four points short of tying Edgar Wilson for the career scoring mark of 1,371 points.

Edwardsburg’s Josh Kozinski will sign with Central Michigan Wednesday morning. (Leader photo/File)

Josh Kozinski

The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is a two-time All-Lakeland Conference MVP as well as a two-time Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Class B All-State selection. He was also named to the Associated Press Class B All-State team as an honorable mention pick and is a McDonald’s Michiana High School All-Star.

This past season, Kozinski helped the Eddies to a third place finish in the Lakeland Conference.

Edwardsburg will play in the Wolverine Conference this season.

As a junior, he eclipsed the 1,000 point plateau and now has 1,104 points for his career. He led the team in scoring at 20.6 points per game, which was second best in southwest Michigan.

He led the team in 3-point field goal percentage (43.8), free throw percentage (73.0), assists per game (5.0), steals, (4.0) blocked shots (2.0) and rebounds (9.0).