The Jim Larranaga off-season rebuilding project rolls full steam in Coral Gables. Larranaga, saddled with replacing five seniors and one sensational sophomore off last season’s Sweet Sixteen squad, has added his fourth transfer in a matter of months.
Point guard Sheldon McClellan is leaving the confines of Austin for South Florida, sitting out the 2013-2014 season but bringing two seasons of eligibility to ‘The U’. He’ll join point guard Angel Rodriguez, pictured above guarding him as a Kansas State Wildcat.
Rodriguez is petitioning to play this upcoming season, claiming a medical hardship (re: moving home to be closer to his ailing mother). He could play, but might also wind up on the shelf, making 2014-2015 a solid year for UM.
McClellan averaged 13.5-points-per-game last season with Texas and chose Miami over LSU, Marquette and Oregon. Like other recent transfers, the man referred to as “Coach L” was a big reason for heading south.
Besides McClellan and Rodriguez, Miami recently welcomed DePaul forward Donnavan Kirk, who spent his first two years at UM, transferred and will return for a season, having graduated from DePaul and having one year of eligibility remaining.
The fourth pick-up is Emmanuel Lecomte, a seventeen-year old prospect out of Belgium who played for the U18 team last summer. Lecomte will be on campus this summer like Kirk, will suit up this fall and plans to help rebuild immediately.