The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE battle with NCAA decision makers lasted over a year and now redshirt freshman Danrad Knowles will finally have an opportunity to battle players on the floor and begin his collegiate basketball career.

Houston Cougars head coach James Dickey announced Tuesday afternoon that Knowles has been cleared to compete by the NCAA Eligibility Centre and will be immediately eligible for the remainder of the season.

He is scheduled to make his long-awaited NCAA debut 7pm tonight when the Cougars face the University of Texas at San-Antonio at home in Hofheinz Pavilion.

“I’m just happy to get the monkey off my back. I haven’t played an official game in a year, but I’ve never stopped working. I’m just excited to get out on the floor and start playing again,” he said. “I just want to get out there and prove myself. Put myself on the big stage and make the most of it for myself and for my country.”

Knowles was ruled ineligible for his true freshman season and sat out while attending classes at UH-Downtown.

The Cougars anxiously awaited a decision prior to the start of the season, but Knowles was forced to miss his team’s 2-0 start as he awaited a ruling.

Coming out of high school, the six-foot 10-inch forward was 13th at his position nationally, 10th in the region and seventh in the state of Texas.

He competed in the Homeschool Christian Youth Association from 2010-2012 to close out his high school career, where as a senior, he received the Maravich Award as the nation’s top HomeSchool student-athlete.

Knowles was ranked 51st in the ESPN top 100, according the ESPN with a scout’s grade of 94.

“We are grateful that the NCAA has ruled quickly in Danrad’s case, and we are excited that he has been allowed to compete this season,” Dickey said in a press statement. “I appreciate all the efforts of our administration and compliance department throughout this process. As excited as our coaches, players and fans will be with this news, no one will be more excited to hit the court than Danrad on Thursday night.”

He officially joins a Houston programme which features fellow Bahamian player, redshirt junior Mikhail McClean and welcomed sophomore transfer LJ Rose, giving the team a strong Bahamian connection in the trio.

Knowles and Rose’s former AAU team mate, starting shooting Danel House says that he looks forward to the addition of Knowles.

“He (Knowles) is going to expand the range of our team. He is going to space the floor out even more because if we put him at the four position, he can pick and pop and hit the three ball, or if we put him at the three, he will be a big, and he’ll post up. He’ll cause a lot of mismatch problems for a lot of guards in our conference,” House said.

“We are close, on and off the court. Some of us played with each other on the AAU circuit, so we know each other’s game and we know what each other likes to do, and we know what each other doesn’t like to do. The chemistry we have gained over the years by knowing each other through family friends and the AAU circuit has made us come closer.”

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 3.