The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DECISION day came for Bahamian basketball player Shaquillo Fritz as he prepares to make the transition to the NCAA Division I level.

Fritz announced via Twitter that he has committed to the Arkansas State Red Wolves and is expected to join the programme for the upcoming Fall 2017 season.

Fritz, a 6’8’’, 220-pound power forward, played locally for the St George’s Jaguars before a number of stops on his high school and collegiate career.

Fritz completed high school at IMG Academy in Florida, committed to Stetson University but eventually would play his freshman season at Miami Dade College.

With the Sharks, Fritz played in 26 games and averaged 2.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 60 per cent from the field.He scored in double figures twice with 11 points against Harcum and 14 points against Barry JV. He had a season high of 14 rebounds against USC Salkehatchie.

After a transfer, Fritz spent this past season with Paris Junior College. In 27 games he averaged 4.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 57 per cent from the field.

He scored in double figures three times - twice against Jarvis Christian JV (13,11) and 11 against Cedar Valley College.

Fritz joined Grantham Gillard and Tristin Walley as a trio of players to commit to Arkansas State yesterday following their official campus visit last week.

The Red Wolves compete in the Sun Belt Conference which means Fritz will immediately become an inter-conference rival with former St. George’s teammate Travis Munnings and the ULM Warhawks.The Red Wolves have not made the NCAA Tournament team since 1999 and recently hired Mike Balando in March.

Fritz, Gillard and Walley represent Balando’s first recruiting class.

“My plan for this program is very simple. The only word I want to hear out of my player’s mouth is a championship. That’s what we want to do here. When you sit in the home and are recruiting a young man not one time, maybe not yet, but in the next year or next month, there hasn’t been one young man that I’m going to recruit that grew up wanting to come to Arkansas State. But, after I get done talking to them and they meet everyone that surrounds the program and see the university and fan base, we’re going to get young men to say, ‘Coach, I’ve always wanted to play at Arkansas State.’ That’s the kind of players we want,” he said at his introduction to the Red Wolves, “The vision of this program is going to be very simple and I’m glad they gave me a jersey with my name on it. That is very important as I go into what I’m going to tell these guys every single day. If you play for the name on the front, the name on the back will prosper. You can’t come in and want to play for the name on the back, because if you do that it’s going to crumble. You play for Arkansas State first. You play for the Red Wolf family first and then the name on the back will prosper.”