Florida Gulf Coast adds interior defense in Samuel
FORT MYERS, Fla. (BVM) — Entering his contract season as the Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball head coach, Michael Fly is doing all he can to get re-signed. Part of that scheme was landing one of the university’s best signings in men’s basketball history.
Fly recently got a transfer commitment from Kevin Samuel, a former Texas Christian University Horned Frog. Coming from one of the country’s premier basketball conferences in the Big 12, the 6-foot-11 shot-blocker will bring an abundance of beneficial experience with him.
In his TCU career, Samuel started all 95 games, averaging 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds. During that time, the now-Eagle turned himself into one of the NCAA’s top interior defenders. In three seasons of action, Samuel set the TCU record for blocked shots, turning back 206 attempts. Considering all active players in the NCAA, that ranks ninth amongst them.
The Eagles will now pair Samuel with their top-returning shot blocker, Dakota Rivers, who led the ASUN Conference last season with 1.9 blocks per game. With one of his best defenses on paper to date, Fly will have a good chance at improving off of last year’s 10-8 overall record.
