.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Mean Green Sign U.S.V.I. Player of the Year
8/4/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON – The North Texas men's basketball team has announced the signing of U.S. Virgin Islands National Team member Shakeem Alcindor. An athletic 6-foot-8 forward who plays above the rim and was named the Virgin Islands Player of the Year.
Alcindor joins the Mean Green after spending last season at Link Year Prep in Branson, Missouri, where he averaged 13 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game and led the Lions to a 14-0 league record and a 35-8 overall record. He's enrolled at UNT as a freshman and will have four years of eligibility.
"Shakeem has crazy upside and his best days as a basketball player are ahead of him," said head coach Grant McCasland. "Shakeem is humble and hungry and has continued to make significant improvements in a short amount of time. What sets Shakeem apart is his character and his willingness to do whatever it takes to not just be a great basketball player but a student and person."
Alcindor has only been playing basketball for roughly four years but in that short time has used his supreme athleticism to collect awards and become the islands' top rising prospect.
As a high school senior in 2017 in Saint Croix, Alcindor averaged 19.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, two blocks and 1.2 assists per game. For his success, he earned the country's Tim Duncan Player of the Year award, Raja Bell Defensive Player of the Year award, Fitzroy Brow Shot Blocking award, Ronald Charles Rebounding award and the Glen "Kimble" Williams Scoring award.
Alcindor recently made his national team debut when he competed with his U.S.V.I. National Team in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia. Alcindor played in three games for the Virgin Islands, including against Puerto Rico who is ranked No. 15 in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) world rankings.
The U.S.V.I. National Team's head coach is UNT assistant Jareem Dowling and also features Mean Green redshirt sophomore Jahmiah Simmons.
Alcindor is the fourth Mean Green basketball player on its current roster to compete internationally. Along with Simmons, redshirt freshman Mark Tikhonenko played for Russia in the FIBA U20 European Championship this summer.
Along with those three, UNT sophomore Zachary Simmons this summer was part of the Athletes in Action program where he traveled to the Czech Republic and Spain and played with peers against international competition.
