Players leaving UNCA and Ru

[Realist]

Fox is gone from RU, tranferring down to D2 I think, that will make them worse than they were already going to be.

Stephen Rush not listed on UNCA's 06' roster. He's gone as well apparently.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the heads up, Realist. With us up to our noses in football its tough to keep up the other teams around in the Big South in hoops.

And the invitation to register is still extended, in case you were wondering.

[LUconn]

I'll revoke that invitation. Then I'll rip it up and spit on it. Fox was pretty good too. Oh well, Over/Under on RU's RPI next year: 320

[WinthropEagleFan]

And Rush was one of the best pure shooters in the league the last two years...Neither defection will change much (RU will struggle regardless, and UNCA should be decent), but I'm sure neither program wanted to see either player go.

[givemethemic]

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BRIDGEWATER – Two years ago, Bridgewater College wanted Josh Fox – really wanted Josh Fox.

The Eagles' basketball coaches saw the Riverheads High School forward play 16 times, keeping an eye on him even after Fox rejected Division III BC for an athletic scholarship to Division I Radford during his senior season.



Josh Fox
A year later – after making the Big South all-rookie team – Fox has decided to join the Eagles.

Tuesday, the 6-foot-8, 208-pounder officially enrolled at Bridgewater. BC coach Bill Leatherman said he didn't know why Fox was leaving Radford to play for a lower-level team, and Fox could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Fox gives BC a potentially dominating player to replace the graduated Ricky Easterling. Easterling led the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with 20.5 points per game.

"He fits what we need," Leatherman said at Nininger Hall. "That's the Williford-spot that scores outside and scores inside, and Josh has those capabilities. It's a good fit for him and a good fit for us."

Kyle Williford was an All-American for the Eagles, finishing his BC career in 2002 third on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,927 points and third on the rebounding list with 909.

One of Fox's former coaches at Radford thinks he could have similar success for BC.

"He's going to break a lot of records there," Troy Manns said Tuesday from his Roanoke home.

Manns was an assistant coach at Radford the last three years. He left to pursue a high school job, he said, after last season.

"Josh is a great, great, great kid. He's a joy to coach," Mann said. "He's one of those kids who if you say we're going to meet at 7, he's there at 6:45.

"He has such a high basketball IQ. You show him something one time, he has it. He has it to the point where he's showing other people."

Fox played in 26 games for the Highlanders, averaging 3.8 points and two rebounds.

Manns said he didn't know why Fox was leaving, but said fellow Radford assistant Jeff Brookman also is no longer at the school. Brookman recruited Fox and the two were close, Manns said.

As a senior at Riverheads, Fox averaged 16.2 points and 12.1 rebounds a game while leading the Gladiators to a 24-5 mark and the Group A title game.

One of the reasons BC saw so much of him was that after Fox signed with Radford, the Eagles continued to recruit his teammate, Josh LaPorte.

LaPorte ended up going to Roanoke, where he started as a freshman.

Leatherman and BC assistant P.W. Weller, also a Riverheads graduate, said Fox picked Bridgewater over Roanoke after deciding to transfer.

Fox was the Shenandoah District's Player of the Year and an All-Group A selection as a senior.

Bridgewater's last D-I transfer was Dan Rush, who signed to play at Moorehead State but then decided to go to BC instead. Rush was the ODAC Player of the Year in 1994-95 as a senior.

Ramsey Yeatts transferred to Bridgewater after playing at JMU in 1985 and also won ODAC Player of the Year honors in 1988.


Radford must have some serious problems.

[PAmedic]

sounds like he missed his friends (and mommy?) back home