Courtesy of RichmondSpiders.com
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond men’s basketball announced the signings of five players for the 2017 signing class. All of the players submitted their national letters of intent during the NCAA early signing period.
Richmond received letters of intent from Bryce Schneider (6-5, Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Jacob Gilyard (5-10, Kansas City, Mo.), Nathan Cayo (6-7, Montreal, Canada), Tomas Verbinskis (6-7, Weston, Fla.) and AJ Ford (6-8, St. Petersburg, Fla.)
“This is one of our larger signing classes and we feel that it is tremendous,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “We have players with significant talent and outstanding work ethic at several different positions. These are high character guys who are excelling in high school right now, and we are looking forward to welcoming them to campus next year.”
Richmond’s signing class includes players originally from Canada and Lithuania and as far west as Kansas City and south to South Carolina and Florida. The signees range from a lightning quick point guard to two tall perimeter players and extremely athletic forwards.
Hailing from Myrtle Beach, S.C., Schneider comes to Richmond from a rich basketball lineage. Standing at 6-5, Schneider plays with terrific pace and has a good feel for the game with tremendous versatility. He will be attending Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach this year after playing for Myrtle Beach High School last season.
Schneider averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 22 contests during his junior season at Myrtle Beach HS. He led the Seahawks to the Class 3A state playoffs. He has played for the Big Shots Elite AAU team where he was a tournament MVP of a May tournament that saw his team win the tournament title.
Schneider’s father, Jeff, played collegiately at Virginia Tech.
The Spiders will continue a long legacy of lightning quick point guards with the signing of Gilyard out of The Barstow School in Kansas City. Last year, Gilyard averaged 17 points, six assists and four steals a game.
Coached by former Kansas great, Billy Thomas, Gilyard led his school to a state championship in his sophomore year and a 20-4 record and return to the state title game last year.
A hard-nosed, versatile guard that sees the floor and is a prolific scorer, Gilyard plays for the KC RUN GMC AAU team. PrepHoops.com ranked Gilyard as the fourth-best recruit in Missouri’s 2017 recruiting class.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Cayo comes to Richmond as a 6-7 athletic forward. Known for his leaping and agility, Cayo will play above the rim in his Spider uniform.
Last season, Cayo averaged 19.6 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game playing for College Jean De Brebeuf, a Canadian preparatory school.
Wing shooter Tomas Verbinskis currently attends Sagemont School in Weston, Fla., the alma mater of current Spider Joe Kirby. Verbinskis is originally from Lithuania, but moved to the United States for high school. Verbinskis played on the U16 Lithuanian National Team in the FIBA European championships.
Verbinskis has excelled on one of the state’s prestigious high school programs and averaged 12 points, four rebounds and two assists per game last season.
UR’s final signee is 6-8 forward AJ Ford out of St. Petersburg, Fla. Although home schooled, Ford plays on the St. Petersburg HS team and AAU for the CP25 Southeast Elite team. Along with his two triplet brothers, Ford has led St. Petersburg to consecutive state semifinal appearances.
Ford’s older brother, Quincy, played collegiately at Northeastern and has played for the Utah Jazz.
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