UNLV guard Wink Adams helps up teammate Beas Hamga after he hit the deck during the first half of their game Nov. 22 against North Carolina A&T at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Friday, May 15, 2009 | 11 a.m.
Sun archives
- Dec. 13 -- With Hamga gone, who takes the scholarship?
- Dec. 12 -- Hamga granted release from UNLV
- Dec. 12 -- http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/dec/12/frustrated-playing-time-hamga-departs-unlv/
- Dec. 12 -- UNLV’s Hamga still handling the hype
- Dec. 11 -- Hamga’s future at UNLV up in the air
When Beas Hamga hits the floor for his sixth collegiate basketball game, he'll be doing so at his third collegiate basketball home.
Hamga, who was granted his release from UNLV back in early December, headed to Valparaiso in search of potentially more playing time and a better fit.
As for the playing time part, we'll never know, as he only made it through one semester and was never eligible to suit up. He wouldn't have been eligible until the conclusion of next year's fall semester, per NCAA rules.
This week, Hamga left Valpo, according to the Valparaiso Post Tribune. He plans on transferring to a junior college, which would potentially open the door for him to return to the D-I level in a year with two years of eligibility still remaining.
"He thinks there's a better fit some other place," Crusaders coach Homer Drew said at a press conference on Thursday.
At that same press conference, Drew did not deny swirling rumors that Hamga didn't like the cold weather, found the school too small and too quiet for his taste.
Drew, however, sounded optimistic.
"The nice thing with Beas is we've been talking for several weeks so we've known about his interest in leaving," Drew said. "We've been able to recruit to try to replace him; that's what our staff has been doing.
"We were expecting a lot out of him. He's a 7-footer who can shoot the basketball and we thought it was a good fit from the standpoint that we could help him get better and he could help us get better. Now we don't have a true center, but we're hoping that we can find one through recruiting, or that one of our other guys can take on that role."
Hamga redshirted the 2007-08 season for Lon Kruger, coming to Las Vegas with a boatload of hype behind him. Rivals.com ranked him as a 5-star prospect, but that potential has yet to show through beyond the prep level.
He played just 26 minutes in 5 games to start the season, ultimately finding himself buried in the rotation behind junior Darris Santee and freshman Brice Massamba.
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