The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

While the Bahamas’ NCAA focus was on the Battle 4 Atlantis, there were Bahamian players who reached career milestones this weekend, one in scoring, while the other made his NCAA debut.

Following a transfer, a long awaited NCAA ruling and an injury setback, Wannah Bail was finally able to make his collegiate basketball debut for the No. 19 ranked UCLA Bruins.  

Bail finished with three points, three rebounds and two assists in nine minutes off the bench in the Bruins’ 105-85 win over Nevada in the opening round of the Continental Las Vegas Invitational last Thursday.

In a 95-75 win Friday over Northwestern, which saw the Bruins claim the tournament title, Bail finished with three points and two steals in 10 minutes off the bench.

The 6’9” 218 pound forward missed the first five games of the season after offseason knee surgery.

Bail had surgery to repair torn cartilage on his knee June 28 and was originally given a four-month schedule timeline for a return to the court.

On October 15, he was granted a transfer fairer which allowed him to play immediately without having to sit out a year.

In his true freshman season, Bail was one of 15 players or staff members to leave the Texas Tech Red Raiders programme under controversial head coach Billy Gillispie. 

He left the programme following the first summer school session, just before the start of fall practice and spent the past season at a prep school in the Canary Islands, virtually non-existent on the recruiting trail until just recently.

Bail was cleared by the NCAA in April and was granted a release by the Red Raiders shortly after. In June , he signed a financial aid agreement officially declaring his intent to join the Bruins.

He will continue to work his way into the rotation as the Bruins will look to go 8-0 tonight when they face UC Santa Barbara.

For the Houston Cougars, Danrad Knowles overcame his own NCAA eligibility issues, to become a rotational player off the bench in his first season.

With lead guard Danel House sidelined, Knowles stepped up and helped the Cougars improve to 6-2 with a 78-67 win over the Texas A and M Corpus Christi Islanders.

Knowles finished with a career high 13 points and five rebounds.

“I was just trying to bring the energy. We were down two at the half, and coach told us to come out hard. Everybody did their job off the bench. We were hungry for a win. We lost two games back-to-back in Brooklyn, so we are hungry for this win,” he said. “I’m staying comfortable every game and it’s exciting. It felt different. We were a man short, but we made up for it off the bench and on the court.”

LJ Rose finished with 13 points and five assists while Mikhail McLean added a block and three steals.

On the opposite end of the floor, another Bahamian, centre Zane Knowles was in action for the Islanders. He finished with two points, one block and one steal in 22 foul plagued minutes.

The Cougars are slated to face Texas A and M 8pm tonight on the road at College Station Texas.

The Aggies also feature a Bahamian player on their roster, Tavario Miller.

Knowles is averaging 7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on the year.

At the Progressive Legends Classic in New York City during the Thanksgiving holiday, he finished with eight points and eight rebounds on November 25 in a loss to Stanford and eight points and six rebounds in a loss to Texas Tech.