FGCU adds 6-11 transfer, signs contract to play UF

Author: Jason MacBain, FGCU
Published: Updated:

The FGCU men’s basketball team will play a non-conference game against the University of Florida on Friday, November 27. The Gators beat the Eagles 94-60 the first time the teams played in 2008. Florida also got the better of FGCU with a 62-50 win in the Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. FGCU was 22-11 last season while the Gators finished 16-17. Mike White is Florida’s new head coach after Billy Donovan moved on to coach the Oklahoma City Thunder.

FGCU also added 6-11 forward Patson Siame as the sophomore transfer has signed an Athletic Aid Agreement and will join the Eagles for the 2015-16 season. Siame spent his sophomore year at Loyola Marymount University after serving a year in residency at LMU as a freshman.

Siame, who will sit out the 2015-16 campaign per NCAA transfer rules, averaged 5.7 points and 4 rebounds per game last year with the Lions, who compete in the West Coast Conference. Siame’s best game in 2014-15 came against San Diego Christian as he scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Siame played in 24 games for LMU last year, making 11 starts while averaging 20 minutes per game and adding 25 blocked shots.

In his first start of the year against UC Irvine on Nov. 29, Siame just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds as he went up against 7-6 center Mamadou N’Diaye, the tallest player in Division I men’s basketball. Siame also added double-figure scoring performances against league foes Pepperdine (11), Pacific (10) and San Diego (10).

“We’re excited to welcome Patson to FGCU, and we’re looking forward to getting him on campus,” said head coach Joe Dooley. “He’s an extremely versatile big man. He’s long and athletic and someone who can post up, but he’s also mobile enough to step out and shoot from the perimeter. He can stay in the low blocks and make a jump hook, but he can also pick and pop and knock down a jumper. We think he’ll make a great addition to our roster and give us another valuable threat down low.”

A native of African country Zambia, Siame attended the Trinity International Schools in Las Vegas and graduated in 2012 before attending Kingdom Christian Academy in Missouri, helping it to an NACA Division III Championship while averaging a triple-double.

Siame was on the World Roster for the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit and was invited to the Adidas Nations Camp, both of which feature the top young players in the nation. During his time at Trinity, which did not have a sports program, he played at Impact Academy in Las Vegas.

Siame is the latest addition in a busy offseason for Dooley and his staff as he becomes the sixth player to sign with the Green and Blue since November. In addition to Siame, VCU transfer Antravious Simmons (6-9, 250) and Kevin Mickle (6-7, 220) will help fill the Eagles’ low-post needs, while Jonathan Milligan (6-2), Reggie Reid (5-11) and Rayjon Tucker (6-5) join the club as backcourt players. Simmons is eligible in December following the fall semester, while Mickle (junior college transfer), Milligan (junior college transfer), Reid (incoming freshman) and Tucker (incoming freshman) are all eligible immediately.

FGCU finished 22-11 (11-3 Atlantic Sun Conference) last year as the Eagles are one of less than 50 programs in the nation that have claimed at least 20 wins in each of the past three seasons. The Green and Blue made its third different postseason appearance in only four years of eligibility in 2014-15 as it hosted a CIT (CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament) contest after going to the NIT in 2014 and Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

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