Newsmakers: NIC guard Angola-Rodas to attend Florida State
Signed Junior college star Braian Angola-Rodas has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Florida State. Angola-Rodas averaged 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists for North Idaho College this past season and was a first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America selection.
The 6-foot-6 guard will have two years of eligibility remaining and helps fill a void after Malik Beasley declared for the NBA draft and hired an agent. Coach Leonard Hamilton said in a statement that he likes Angola-Rodas’ ability to shoot off the dribble and create his own shots.
Angola-Rodas visited Florida State last week. He also considered Oregon, Utah, Washington and Houston.
Ganzaga’s Shelby Cheslek signed with the Phoenix Mercury and will begin training camp with the WNBA team Sunday.
Georgia signed forward Pape Diatta, who has played the last two years for the College of Southern Idaho. Coach Mark Fox says Diatta is versatile as a rebounder and 3-point shooter. Fox said in a statement released by Georgia he expects Diatta can “step in and play right away.”
Died Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, who went from New York City playground wonder to Big East star for Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, has died. He was 52. Washington died of cancer, the university said. Washington was not particularly fast, nor could he jump particularly high. Neither mattered – he simply excited fans with his amazing ball-handling skills, an uncanny court sense, elusiveness, and the ability to pull off unbelievable plays at the right time.
His signature move was the crossover dribble – the “shake-and-bake” – that froze defenders, then a drive to the hoop for an easy layup past the defense’s big men. His play was instrumental in helping create the aura of greatness the Big East Conference had during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
Donated The national champion Villanova Wildcats have received a $22.6 million donation to renovate their arena. Bill Finneran made the largest athletic gift in Villanova history to give the Pavilion a needed facelift and to support of the men’s program.
Announced Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes is submitting his name for the NBA draft but will not sign with an agent. New rules allow players to enter their names in the draft by April 24, and withdraw by May 25 and return to school as long as they have not signed with an agent. The draft will be held on June 25.
Josh Norman, one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks, is now an unrestricted free agent after the Carolina Panthers surprisingly rescinded their non-exclusive franchise tag offer to the All-Pro. Norman did not sign the franchise tag offer from the Panthers which would have paid him $13.9 million in 2016.
Neymar will play for Brazil at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics but will skip the Copa America, Barcelona said. Neymar had said he wanted to play in both tournaments and the Brazilian soccer confederation had asked for his release. But Barcelona didn’t want to lose the striker for so long and feared that his participation in both events could affect his preparations for next season.
Granted Kansas QBs Montell Cozart and Deondre Ford were granted hardship waivers after sustaining injuries last season, giving both redshirt juniors two years of eligibility remaining. Cozart sustained a season-ending shoulder injury and Ford appeared in two games before a season-ending thumb injury.
Agreed New UAB men’s basketball coach Robert Ehsan has received a five-year contract worth at least $450,000 annually. Ehsan takes over for Jerod Haase, who left to take over the Stanford program.