FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has added a late basketball signee from Georgia.

The former Soviet state, not the SEC state.

Levan Patsatsia, a 6-6 shooting guard from Tbilisi, Georgia, has signed with Arkansas, first-year Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey announced Monday.

“The coaches have told me I play the way they like to play,” Patsatsia, who also was recruited by St. John’s, said in a news release. “I am a shooting guard who likes to play in transition.”

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Pelphrey’s latest signee, pronounced La-von Pot-sot-seeah, puts Arkansas at the NCAA limit of 13 scholarship players for the 2007-2008 season.

Patsatsia was a member of Georgia’s FIBA Under-19 World Championship team, but he missed the tournament because of a broken left elbow.

Previously, he was named the national team player of Georgia, now an independent country located at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and was the Under-18 Georgian Player of the Year.

“We’re excited about the addition of Patsa,” Pelphrey said in a news release, apparently using the player’s nickname. “He is a big guard who can help us with our perimeter shooting.

“ He’s an extremely hard worker who I think will be a big part of our future. Looking at our roster, you could tell we needed guard depth, and he helps.”

Patsatsia played for junior teams from the ages of 10 through 16. Since then, he has worked with a personal coach while playing for a variety of teams, including some in Spain, in several tournaments. He was named MVP of the Attack basketball camp in Spain and attended the Adidas top 50 Euro Camp in Berlin, where he was voted the camp’s best shooter.

“We were able to get on Patsa through some of my contacts that I had known previously and respect in this business,” Pelphrey said.

Patsatsia is the fourth member of Arkansas’ recruiting class this year, joining 6-3 guard Marcus Britt from Forrest City, and 6-8 forward Michael Sanchez and 6-5 guard Nate Rakestraw from Springdale Har-Ber.

Returning starting guards for the Razorbacks are senior Gary Ervin and sophomore Patrick Beverley. Sophomore backup guard Stephan Welsh also returns.

“Our guard depth is not great,” Pelphrey said. “With Nate Rakestraw and Marcus Britt, and now Patsa, hopefully those guys will be able to provide us with some depth.”