Juice
01-06-2009, 04:29 PM
From Bill Koch's blog on cincinnati.com:
With 7-foot-2 center John Riek apparently not coming to UC because he couldn’t get cleared by the NCAA, Mick Cronin has attempted to fill the void for next season with Ibrahima Thomas, 6-11, 238-pound forward transfer from Oklahoma State.
Thomas enrolled at UC this morning and was at practice this afternoon. He’ll be able to play after the last final exam of fall quarter 2009.
“He can shoot the basketball,” Cronin said. “He can open the court up fro Yancy (Gates) down low and also give us size on the defensive end. We were hoping to be adding somebody else. That didn’t work out.”
Cronin says he considers Thomas to be a power forward “who can stretch the defense, but he can also run the floor and finish around the rim. He allows us to be a little more versatile and open the court up on offense for Yancy down low and for other guys to penetrate.”
Thomas, from Dakar, Senegal, averaged 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17 games for Oklahoma State last year. He started seven games this year for the Cowboys before deciding to transfer and averaged 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. He shot 49 percent from the floor, was 2-for-7 from 3-point range and 8 for 20 from the free throw line.
“We’re fortunate to get him,” Cronin said. “He had a whole lot of options, like the whole Big East.”
Thomas was not permitted to talk to reporters today.
I personally did not know Riek was not cleared to play. Thomas sounds decent but so did Mike Williams and Biggie McClain.
With 7-foot-2 center John Riek apparently not coming to UC because he couldn’t get cleared by the NCAA, Mick Cronin has attempted to fill the void for next season with Ibrahima Thomas, 6-11, 238-pound forward transfer from Oklahoma State.
Thomas enrolled at UC this morning and was at practice this afternoon. He’ll be able to play after the last final exam of fall quarter 2009.
“He can shoot the basketball,” Cronin said. “He can open the court up fro Yancy (Gates) down low and also give us size on the defensive end. We were hoping to be adding somebody else. That didn’t work out.”
Cronin says he considers Thomas to be a power forward “who can stretch the defense, but he can also run the floor and finish around the rim. He allows us to be a little more versatile and open the court up on offense for Yancy down low and for other guys to penetrate.”
Thomas, from Dakar, Senegal, averaged 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17 games for Oklahoma State last year. He started seven games this year for the Cowboys before deciding to transfer and averaged 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. He shot 49 percent from the floor, was 2-for-7 from 3-point range and 8 for 20 from the free throw line.
“We’re fortunate to get him,” Cronin said. “He had a whole lot of options, like the whole Big East.”
Thomas was not permitted to talk to reporters today.
I personally did not know Riek was not cleared to play. Thomas sounds decent but so did Mike Williams and Biggie McClain.