The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team announced that it’s added another player.
According to a press release from the university, Davonte Fitzgerald will transfer from Texas A&M to Minnesota. Fitzgerald will have to sit out next season and will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in 2016.
Fitzgerald, a native of Atlanta, is a 6-foot-7, 209-pound small forward. He averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in two seasons with the Aggies. As a freshman, Fitzgerald averaged 7.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game before tearing his ACL and missing the final 10 games of the 2013-14 season.
Richard Pitino on Davonte Fitzgerald: "A year off will serve him well as he gets healthy. He has great size and ability.” #gophers
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) May 26, 2015
“We are excited about Davonte being a Gopher,” said head coach Richard Pitino. “He has two years of experience playing at an extremely high level.”
Coming out of high school, Fitzgerald was regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals and ESPN. He had offers from Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi, Oregon State and others.
This is how ESPN describes him on his Insiders profile.
“Fitzgerald is a long and athletic Division 1 wing. The ultra-bouncy Fitzgerald can slash his way to the rim in transition or knock down the 3-point shot. He has a solid looking jump shot (gets great lift), but it’s streaky. He plays with good energy and has active hands at both ends of the floor. He can fill the lane after causing a steal and he has the length and bounce to finish above the rim.”
The Daily Gopher notes that Minnesota had a vacant scholarship after Jonathan Nwankwo was released from his scholarship earlier this month.
Fitzgerald’s addition brings the total number of Gopher signees to seven for the upcoming season.
