JONESBORO,
Ark. (6/1/12) - Arkansas State head men's basketball coach John Brady announced
the signing of Kirk Van Slyke, a transfer from Houston, Friday.
Van
Slyke, a 6-9, 225-pound forward, will be eligible to play for the Red Wolves in
2013-14 after playing his first three seasons at Houston.
"I think
Kirk is going to be really good for us, particularly with how I like our post
men to play and the opportunity he has to play facing the goal. I think he's
going to be a good addition to our team. He's got great size, he's athletic
enough and the thing he can really do is shoot the basketball," said Brady.
Van
Slyke appeared in 85 career games for the Cougars including making 25 starts.
He averaged 5.9 points per game as a junior playing 11.6 minutes of mostly
reserve action, drawing one start. He shot a career 41.3% (163-395) from the
floor at Houston including hitting 33.8% (54-160) of his shots from three-point
range and was a career 85.4% (34-41) from the free throw line.
The
Woodlands, Texas native scored a career-high 28 points this past season against
Oakland leading all players on 10-17 shooting while also pulling down a
team-high eight rebounds in the contest. Van Slyke also had a team high streak
of 22-consecutive free throws made during the season.
Van
Slyke appeared in 29 games both as a sophomore and freshman at Houston making
16 and eight starts, respectively. As a sophomore, he recorded his first career
double-double against Nicholls State with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Prior to
Houston, Van Slyke went to West Point Prep where he was named team MVP and
averaged more than 20-points a game. Van Slyke was named All-District 15-51
First Team as a senior at College Park High School where he averaged 17.1
points and 7.9 rebounds as a senior.
Van
Slyke joins former teammate from Houston Kendrick Washington who transferred to
Arkansas State last year.