Kent lands transfer big from Houston

When Ernie Kent arrived to Pullman in March as the new men's basketball coach at Washington State University he had several scholarships to fill. His first recruiting class consisted of a trio of guards and one power forward, Aaron Cheatum, a 6'7" Juco transfer power forward. Kent made it known that his next recruiting class would focus more on height. In June, Kent received a verbal commitment from Jeff Pollard, a 6'8" power forward from Utah for the class of 2015. Now, according to WazzuWatch ($), Kent has added Valentine Izundu, a 6'10", 210 lbs center who played his first two years at the University of Houston. Izundu will not be eligible until the 2015-16 season due to transfer rules and will have three years to play two.

Izundu was granted his release from Houston in April for the second time in a year. Izundu requested a transfer back in December and was granted that transfer. Later Izundu relented on his transfer request and was allowed to return to the team by head coach James Dickey, but did not participate in basketball activities after that point. Dickey resigned after the 2013-14 season and was replaced by former WSU coach Kelvin Sampson. Izundu was the third player to depart UH after Sampson's hiring.

As a 3-star recruit from Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, TX, Izundu held offers from SMU, Tulsa, North Texas, and Arkansas Little Rock. Izundu only played in four games during the 2013-14 season with his last appearance coming on December 14. 2013. In 2012-13, he played in 20 games and collected 22 blocked shots while only averaging an even eight minutes per game. Izundu rarely shot the ball in his first season with an average of 1.1 field goal attempts per game, but was efficient with .762 field goal percentage.

In all honesty, WSU could probably use Izundu's services sooner than later after the well-documented struggles of Jordan Railey in 2013-14. On the bright side, Izundu will have a year to work on his game and possibly put some weight on his remarkably slender frame. Below you can watch Izundu's highlight film from high school. Let us know your opinion of Kent's newest addition to the WSU men's basketball program.