Vermont lands Quinnipiac transfer Samuel Dingba

The wait for Vermont recruiting information is over as 6-5 forward Samuel Dingba commits to the Catamounts. Dingba is transferring from Quinnipiac so he will sit out this season and join the Cats for the 2017-2018 season with two years of eligibility left. Vermont recruited him out of high school so the coaching staff is very familiar with his game. I like the move to bring in a transfer instead of shuffling a scholarship to the 2017 class. This will help bridge the recruiting gap with a more experienced player when the huge junior class leaves. He was highly recruited out of high school and was a considered an immediate impact player for Quinnipiac. A slew of injuries limited his first two years of college and as a result he did not live up to expectations. He can fill several positions for the Cats due to his defensive versatility. He is a very long 6-5 and a good shot blocker. The defensive versatility is a big plus for Vermont. Many of their current players are versatile offensively and more one dimensional defensively. With the switch to a more offensive minded team it is important to have a player who can come in a play tough defense. His greatest strength is his rebounding. Even in his limited minutes was very tough on the boards. In the game against Vermont this past season he played 22 minutes scoring 6 points a grabbing 7 rebounds (4 offensive). I was impressed by his ability to go get the ball in traffic. If you like advanced statistics, his per 40 minute numbers back up his strong rebounding ability. In his two years at Quinnipiac he averaged 8.6 and 10.3 rebounds per 40 minutes respectively. His offensive game is raw and as a result he struggled to get consistent minutes. He also struggled with foul trouble. Health will be the key factor in determining his success at Vermont. A healthy Dingba could be a solid contributor off the bench and a valuable rotation player. If he continues to struggle with injuries he may never be able to play consistent enough minutes to reach his full potential. Time will tell and the impact of transfers in notoriously difficult to predict, but right now this is a positive addition to the Vermont program. This offseason has been excruciatingly slow to follow so I hope this jump starts the information train.