Rice star Ben Shungu commits to Vermont

Vermont added another piece to the program with Ben Shungu's verbal commitment. Shungu plays at Rice Memorial High School in Burlington, VT and is in the midst of a very impressive senior season. It is always good to get the top talent from Vermont to go to UVM and Shungu is giving himself a great opportunity. He is going to walk on, redshirt next year and be ready to play in the fall of 2017. His hope is to earn a scholarship and it is a win win for both Shungu and Vermont. Shungu gets a chance to play Division I basketball close to friends and family. Vermont takes a chance on a player and does not have to commit a scholarship while waiting to see if he will develop. I have seen Shungu play a few times in person and seen numerous highlights on the local news. The thing about him that has always jumped out for me is his strength. He is a big guard with a very strong frame and uses his size and physicality to his advantage. He gets to the rim and finishes through contact very well. During his transition to college basketball he will need to become a more consistent shooter and improve his quickness. The speed of the college game will be a large transition as the night in night out competition in Vermont high school basketball is lacking. When Rice went to a New York tournament over Christmas break, Shungu played very well against a significantly higher level of competition. He seems to have a knack for coming up big in big games and has played winning basketball for his entire career. Having the chance to sit back and learn for a year is going to be a big help to his chances at making an impact in college. Vermont players at UVM have enjoyed a fairly consistent amount of success over the last 13 years. Matt Sheftic, Taylor Coppenrath, Kyle Ceplicki, Chad Powlovich, Matt Glass, Pat Bergman, Candon Rusin, and Clancy Rugg all had varying degrees of success at Vermont. Hopefully Shungu can improve and find a way to positively contribute to the Vermont program.