UNLV players warm up before a game against Air Force in the 2018 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday, March 7, 2018.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018 | 5:43 p.m.
The UNLV basketball team picked up an unexpected commit for next season on Tuesday evening, according to an ESPN.com report.
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, a 19-year-old from Cameroon, verbally committed to the Rebels after graduating from the NBA Global Academy. Tchatchoua is listed as a 6-foot-8 center with natural rebounding and shot-blocking abilities to go with elite athleticism.
ESPN describes him as “relatively new to the game,” so some further seasoning under coach Marvin Menzies’ staff may be necessary. Tchatchoua’s commitment is noteworthy on a national level because it makes him one of the first two players headed to college basketball out of the NBA’s new venture that attempts to find prospects in previously underserved parts of the world.
Francisco Caffaro, an Argentinian who committed to Virginia, was the other NBA Global Academy graduate to announce intentions to play in the NCAA on Tuesday.
UNLV appears to be one player over the scholarship limit after Tchatchoua’s commitment, so some shifting is in order before next year's roster finalizes.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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