Friday, August 31, 2012

Idaho State Reportedly Signs Naveij Walters

This is old news to Idaho State fans, but the Bengals have apparently signed forward Naveij Walters, according to the Jamaica BBall Association.

Naveij Walters formerly of Belair High accepts Idaho State U as his D1 scholarship. Risks remain as the NCAA give him 1 year eligibility.
As the quote says, he will have one year of eligibility remaining, again, according to that twitter account.

Walters is 6'5'', but appears to play a bit bigger than his height. In 28 games last year, he averaged 13.3 PPG and 7.1 rebounds per contest. He also shot 56% from the field.

ISU is a team without a ton of size heading into next season, so it's important to find a guy like that could potentially play a 4 spot in a small ball lineup. With his rebounding skills, he could give them that option. He only took two three-pointers last season, so it is clear that he prefers playing near the basket.

Anybody hearing anything else about Walters?

Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball

3 comments:

  1. Good Lord ! Is this the best we can do ! I am seriously concerned about our bigs this year at ISU.!?

    ReplyDelete
  2. He's enrolled. Not sure why there wasn't a release from ISU, but I'm guessing it's because of some academic hurdles or what not during the summer. From what I understand, he was signed last spring, so at least it's not an end of summer desperation signing which Joe O'Brien was so (in)famous for.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gj4AtE2slQ

    ISU won't be huge, but it's doable for the Big Sky. I'd like to see one more big, but I'd rather have a 6'6" guy with talent. O'Brien never could understand that the 7 footers found at the Big Sky level were there for a reason.

    Kusmierik 7'4"
    Preh 6'9"
    Kostur 6'8"
    Ezenwa 6'6"
    Walters 6'5"

    ReplyDelete
  3. No doubt... especially in the Big Sky, I will take an undersized forward with talent and athleticism compared to a bigger guy with less athleticism.

    Look at Portland State last year... Chehales Tapscott was 6'5'', but the best forward in the conference. Nate Lozeau was a 7 footer with decent skills, but he was nowhere near as valuable.

    In a league like the Big Sky, without big and athletic forwards, the undersized but athletic and talented forward is not at all a bad way to go.

    ReplyDelete