Washington Huskies Land 7-Foot Transfer Gilles Dierickx

In a recruiting period that seemed to be closed for the Washington Huskies. Lorenzo Romar and the Washington Huskies have landed another big-man transfer in 7’0 Gillies Dierickx from Florida International University. As first reported by the LA Times.

Dierickx played high school basketball at West Hills Chaminade in California but heirs from Belgium. He played one year for the FIU Panthers and will have three left to play for the Huskies. He will be required to sit out the 2012 year according to D-1 transfer rules, and will be eligible to play for the Dawgs in 2013.

According to the FIU Bio page:

"Appeared in 29 games for the Panthers, starting in 15…Averaged 2.6 points-per-game and 2.2 rebounds-per-game…Shot 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from the floor (second-best shooting percentage on the team)…Converted 8-of-10 attempts (80.0 percent) from the free-throw line…Ranked No. 3 on the team in blocked shots (16)…Averaged 0.4 assists-per-game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.3."

Not an overwhelming stat line in his freshman campaign but shows lots of potential at the mid-major university. He will also have a year to learn under Aziz N’Diaye and battle alongside Perris Blackwell.

It may not make sense to many UW fans as the 2013 recruiting class was/is to be a big haul of high school talent and already two scholarships are pushed into transfers, Blackwell and Dierickx. Lorenzo Romar may have something up his sleeve but it is befuddling now. And while these two can’t play the 2012 season there is no doubt that it helps in practice to have these two extra big men.

One more thought is that 2013 is a big class for forwards and guards but impressive big men are lacking. This may be Romar’s way of adding big-men to the guards and forwards that he wants to bring in. Keep in mind that guys like Aaron Gordon and Jabari Parker both want to play the 3 in college.