This is shaping up to be quite an eventful summer for VCU coach Shaka Smart.
The rising star coach left Tuesday for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil, where he is assisting Team USA and Florida coach Billy Donovan on a staff that also includes Gonzaga’s Mark Few.
And just last month, Smart and his VCU Rams joined the new 16-team Atlantic 10 conference beginning this coming season.
John Calipari has axed Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villaneuva from the Dominican Republic National Team for being out of shape.
“Charlie was not in good form when we saw him,” Calipari, the Kentucky and DR head coach, told FIBA.com of the Queens, N.Y. native.
“He was overweight, and unfortunately, we could not slow down the entire team and it was a decision taken collectively. Last year, Charlie behaved really well with us and his only problem was his weight.
Two more dominoes fell Tuesday on the transfer wire.
Matt Humphrey, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard who previously attended Boston College and Oregon, has signed a grant-in-aid to attend West Virginia.
A Chicago native, Humphrey completed his undergraduate degree with a bachelor of arts in human development from Boston College and will have one year of eligibility remaining.
“Matt will give us much needed experience on the front line,” said Mounties coach Bob Huggins, whose team is joining the Big 12. “In having played in the Pac-12 and ACC, his familiarity with multiple offensive and defensive schemes will help us at both ends of the floor.”
Davon Reed, one of the top shooting guards in the Class of 2013 out of the Princeton (N.J.) Day School, will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG heading into his senior season. Here’s his second entry:
Yesterday was a very big day for me. I turned 17 and I dropped some hot news about my recruiting.
I am now down to a final eight schools in Louisville, UConn, Memphis, Miami, Cincinnati, Xavier, Harvard and Wake Forest.
Rasheed Sulaimon is playing basketball for the USA U18 squad and recruiting for Duke.
All at the same time.
While trying out for — and ultimately making — the 12-man roster for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, the 6-foot-4 Duke-bound shooting guard has been getting in the ear of 2013 players like Julius Randle and Austin Nichols.
“I’m talking to a lot of young guys and I’m talking to [2013 Duke commit] Matt Jones,” Sulaimon, out of Houston Strake Jesuit, told
N.C. State transfer Tyler Harris is closing
It’s official.
Chris Obekpa is headed to St. John’s after visiting the campus Monday.
“Keeping my talent in the MECCA,” the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Our Savior New American forward Tweeted, along with the accompanying picture.
Obekpa, a native of Benue, Nigeria who averaged 12 points, 13 rebounds and 9 blocks last season, rounds out a strong recruiting class for head coach Steve Lavin that includes his Our Savior teammate, 6-3 wing Felix Balamou.
It also includes forwards JaKarr Sampson and Orlando Sanchez and guard Marco Bourgault, along with Texas A&M transfer Jamal Branch and Harvard transfer Max Hooper.
