UA adds another for basketball

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson answers questions during a press conference Friday, March 20, 2015, at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson answers questions during a press conference Friday, March 20, 2015, at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

Center Willy Kouassi will play his final year of college basketball at Arkansas after committing to the Razorbacks on Thursday.

Kouassi, 6-10 1/2, 233 pounds, received a release from Kennesaw State in Georgia and will be eligible to play immediately this season. He took official visits to North Texas and Western Kentucky before taking one to Fayetteville on June 5-7.

"When I took my visit I had a chance to get to know the players and the coaching staff, and they're really down-to-earth," said Kouassi, who will graduate in July and report to Arkansas in August. "They really want to win, and I wanted to be a part of the winning future."

Kouassi and Arkansas forward Jacorey Williams were teammates at Central Park Christian Academy in Birmingham, Ala. He was rated the No.90 prospect in the nation by ESPN during his senior season after averaging 14 points, 15 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.

He liked what he heard from Coach Mike Anderson.

"He told me he was going to push me to be the best player I could possibly be," Kouassi said.

Kouassi, an Ivory Coast native, started 25 of 27 games last season and averaged 4.6 points, 5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He became Kennesaw State's all-time leader in blocked shots in two seasons.

He signed with Auburn in 2011 and played in 25 games as a freshman for the Tigers before transferring to Kennesaw and sitting out the 2012-2013 season.

Sports on 06/26/2015

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