The Iceman is headed to Iona.
Ice Asortse, a 6-foot-7, 238-pound forward from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has pledged to play for head coach Tim Cluess and associate head coach Jared Grasso.
“I have verbally committed to Iona a minute ago,” Asortse told SNY.tv.
“They have a very good basketball program and are located in a good location near New York City where there are a lot of opportunities,” he added. “They’ve been recruiting me since my freshman year.”
SNY.tv was the first to report last month that Asortse listed Iona as his top choice.
He’s averaging 10.8 points and 9.0 rebounds and can play both power forward and center.
“I love cleaning the boards and really want to work more on my offense so that I will always cause mismatch problems on the floor every time,” he said.
After averaging 10.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, Asortse was named the Offensive Player of the year last season on a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College team that went 21-6 and won its first MACJC title since 1992.
Iona has had great success with junior college players, most notably Mike Glover, the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year.
The Gaels also have JUCO point guard DaShawn Gomez coming in next fall, and 6-8 forward David Laury is in the pipeline for January 2013.
As for Asortse, he watches Glover on TV and hopes to follow in his footsteps.
“He loves Glover’s game and wants to step in for him,” said Joe Boncore, who trains Asortse.