Former Sun Devil Coming to Greensboro

According to Dave Telep of ESPN Recruiting, Arizona State sophomore forward Kyle Cain (6'8" 210 lbs/Chicago, IL) is transferring to UNCG.

Last season, Cain averaged 7.5 pts and 5.5 rebounds per game. He was the 2nd leading rebounder for the Sun Devils.He tallied a season best 18 points at California on February 4 and he gathered 10+ rebounds 4 times. Cain was suspended for 2 games during the regular season for "unacceptable conduct". However, ASU coach Herb Sendek has a history of butting heads with players that dates all the way back to his time coaching NC State.

During his freshman campaign in Tempe, Cain appeared in all 31 games and started 23. He averaged 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. He grabbed a career best 18 rebounds against Houston Baptist on on 11/25/2010.

Previous to college, Kyle was an Illinios All-State selection in 2008-2009 at Thorton Fractional North HS near Chicago. He spent the 2009-2010 season at New Hampton (NH) Prep School. New Hampton is the Alma mater of rising UNCG sophomore Nick Paulos, as well as UNCG Head Coach Wes Miller and Associate Head Coach Mike Roberts. Cain originally signed with Rhode Island out of prep school. He was later granted his release and choose Arizona State.

Here is a YouTube highlight video of Cain at New Hampton.



Kyle will have to redshirt this season per NCAA rules. He will be eligible in 2013-2014 as a junior. UNCG athletics hasn't posted a story yet. I will attached an update when they do post an article.

Welcome to the Spartans, Kyle !!!

McNeil Transferring to UNCG

According to his Twitter page, Delaware senior Kelvin McNeil (6'8" PF Newport News, VA) has committed to spend his final season at UNCG. Kelvin will be eligible to play right away.

This past season, Kelvin averaged 2.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.1 minutes for the Blue Hens. Delaware played in the post season CBI Tournament. McNeil pulled down a season best 9 rebounds against Villinova (11/18/11) and 13 points against Temple (12/30/11). Below are Youtube highlights of the Temple game, along with an interview.



McNeil had a solid first 2 seasons with the Blue Hens. He averaged 6 points and 6.2 rebounds (25.2 mins/game) his freshman season 5 points and 5 rebounds (19.8 mins/game) in his sophomore campaign. He missed 18 games during his freshman season with a knee injury. He redshirted during the 2008-2009seasson due to an injury in the preseason.

Below is a Youtube video of McNeil highlights from his sophomore campaign.



I'm still waiting to see official confirmation from UNCG. I'll post an update when that becomes available.

Randall to Central Michigan

From Twitter. Best of luck next season, Kyle !!!

Next year I will be a Central Michigan Chippewa! I can dig it

— Kyle Randall (@KRandy_12) April 21, 2012

Jackie Manuel Named UNCG Assistant Coach

According to this article on the UNCG athletics web page, former UNC-Chapel Hill defensive standout Jackie Manuel has been name to Wes Miller's staff at UNCG. Manuel spent this past season as the Strength & Conditioning coach at UNC. He spent 5 years before his time at Carolina playing basketball professionally. Manuel played one season in Japan and four seasons in the NBA Development League.

As a player at North Carolina, Manuel excelled on the defensive end of the court. He was a two time member of the ACC All-Defensive team. Manuel was also one of the three captains of the UNC national championship team in 2005.

The Fayetville Observer posted an article about Manuel's hiring.

"He is positive and energetic, and I am confident he will relate extremely well to our players and prospects," Miller said in a statement. "As one of his teammates in college, I know firsthand that Jackie Manuel is hard-working, team-orientated and a fiercely competitive winner. As he makes this transition to coaching, I expect him to impact our program immediately in the same way he has impacted all of the teams he played on."

Manuel had this to say about working with former teammate and UNCG Head Coach Wes Miller ...

"It's a great honor, and I'm very thankful for Wes to think of me that highly," Manuel said in a statement. "I'm very appreciative and just blessed. It brings back old memories. It doesn't happen often, whether it's playing, coaching, whatever it is, that you get to be with a teammate again. It's going to be good. We know each other very well, so the transition should be real easy."

Duane Simpkins New UNCG Assistant Coach

According to Towson University Head Coach Pat Skerry, Duane Simpkins has taken an assistant coaching position at UNCG. Multiple sources on Twitter are also confirming this hire.

Simpkins (Maryland `96) spent this past season as the Tigers' Coordinator of Basketball Operations. Before going to Towson, Simpkins spent 4 seasons as the coach of the Washington, DC area private school St. Albans. Before that he coached another area private school, Sidwell Friends School.

At Maryland, Duane was a three time All-ACC honorable mention selection at PG. He helped take Maryland to consecutive NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" births. From his Towson bio ...

At College Park he scored 1,123 points for a 9.4 average over a 119-game career that included 90 starts. His 483 career assists rank him fifth on Maryland's all-time list. He's among the Terps top 20 with 120 career steals. A solid free throw shooter, his .812 (311-383) percentage ranks him sixth in program history at the charity stripe.

Simpkins also spent many years playing professional basketball overseas. He retired in 2004.

Before going to the University of Maryland, he was a two time Parade All-America PG at famed DeMatha HS. In 1992, he was named a McDonald's All-American.

Mike Roberts is New Associate Head Coach

According to this Rice University press release, Mike Roberts is the new Associate Head Coach at UNCG. Roberts (Indiana '05) has spent the last 6 years working for Ben Braun. He has been with Braun the past 4 years at Rice as an assistant coach. Before that he was an assistant coach and video coordinator at the University of California-Berkley. Mike spent 2006 as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech. Roberts helped Indiana to a national runner up finish in 2002. He was a two time member of the Academic All-Big Ten team.

(Rice Coach Ben) Braun said, "Mike has been a very valuable addition to our basketball program over the past four years. He will have a great opportunity as the associate head coach at UNCG. I believe Mike has a very bright future in college coaching. Our staff and players have appreciated his dedication and wish him nothing but success."

Here is his bio from the Rice athletics page.

At Rice, Roberts has played a role in the Owls building a foundation for the future. As a member of the coaching staff, he helped the Owls sign an initial recruiting class that both ESPN.com and Rivals.com recognized as one of the Top 10 among mid-major universities. That recruiting success has continued during his tenure.