Ex-Vanderbilt guard Eric McClellan announced his intention to join the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday, Jon Rothstein with CBS Sports reported.
The news trickled in over the weekend, because McClellan must be one of the few people not aware that a lot of attention is focused on that thing known as the World Cup. Still, the 6'4 guard is a solid scorer that will most likely vault Gonzaga into the top-10 (or very near) once the preseason rankings come out.
McClellan was the leading scorer for Vanderbilt last year at 14.3 points per game -- but only for 12 games. He was dismissed from the program after a violation of academic policy. That seems like a red flag and it is a hump that McClellan will have to get over before he starts playing with Gonzaga. He has three courses he needs to complete over the summer to put himself on track for becoming eligible at the start of the second semester. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
McClellan joins what is now an incredibly crowded back court. Having too much of a good thing isn't necessarily a problem, but it will be interesting to see how Mark Few plans on distributing minutes to the troops. Kevin Pangos averaged 34.4 minutes per game and Gary Bell saw the court for 28 minutes per game last season. USC transfer Byron Wesley is waiting on the wing and incoming freshmen Josh Perkins and Silas Melson will also be looking for minutes.