Tomas Woldetensae Commits to Virginia
Posted on Wednesday, May. 8, 2019, 5:17 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
Virginia basketball will have a little Italian flavor in the mix next season with the Cavaliers’ addition of junior college transfer guard Tomas Woldetensae.
The Italian native played the past two seasons at Ottumwa Indian Hills Community College in Iowa where he was an NJCAA first-team All-American last season. Woldetensae is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, who averaged 17.3 points per game and shot 47.6 percent from the 3-point arc.
UVA coach Tony Bennett needed to add at least one perimeter scorer in the absence of Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, and De’Andre Hunter, the program’s top three scorers and key threats from the arc. All three declared for early entry into the NBA Draft and surrendered their final year of eligibility with Virginia.
Mamadi Diakite also declared for the draft and received an invitation to the G League elite camp after being shunned by the NBA Combine, which issued invites to the other three Wahoo players.
Meanwhile, southern California 5-star guard Johnny Juzang announced today that he will announce his final college choice on Friday. Juzang said last week that his final list of schools include Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas and Oregon. Insiders insist that Juzang is a Kentucky lean.
Perhaps that is why Virginia quickly landed the deal with Woldetensae, who selected the Cavaliers over Illinois and Central Florida.
Juzang, who is a 6-6 shooter, visited the Cavalier last fall and is considered the No. 24 ranked prospect in the country. He is ranked the No. 24 prospect in the country and as the nation’s No. 6 wing prospect.
Indian Hills coach Hank Piona has said that Woldetensae is a complete guard, a solid free throw shooter. The Italian played mostly at point guard his first year but managed to move out to shooting guard this past season when he became an All-American.
Piona pushed Woldetensae to play more aggressively this past season and that aggression paid off. The guard is also capable of attacking the basket.
Woldentensae averaged 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and shot 46.7 percent overall last season for Indian Hills.
