Valparaiso on Tuesday announced the addition of Oklahoma State transfer Joe Burton to the men’s basketball team.
The 6-foot-6 swingman will sit out this season, per NCAA rules, and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Burton averaged 4.7 points in 12.6 minutes for the Cowboys last season, playing in 30 of their 32 games off the bench. The Houston area native scored in double figures four times, including 16 points against West Virginia and 13 against Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament.
He shot 39.7 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore under eighth-year coach Travis Ford, now at St. Louis with Stephen F. Austin’s Brad Underwood taking over at Oklahoma State.
“Joe is a unique player in that he possesses a great ability to score in a variety of ways,” Crusaders coach Matt Lottich said in a news release. “He is a good 3-point shooter, is athletic on the interior and is great at getting to the foul line. Above that, Joe is hungry to be a great player — he has a great work ethic and competitive spirit.”
Burton was considered a four-star recruit out of high school, ranked in the Top 100 nationally.
He announced his verbal commitment to the Crusaders via Twitter on Aug. 5. Valparaiso began fall semester classes on Tuesday.
He accepted their final scholarship for the 2016-17 season, the one being held for Keith Carter, who in May was denied a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Burton currently is the only scholarship player in the Crusaders’ Class of 2019, with junior status for the 2017-18 season. Fellow transfers Bakari Evelyn (Nebraska) and John Middleton (Utah State) will be sophomores when they are eligible.
RailCats fall to Lincoln: Cesar Valera’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Lincoln Saltdogs past the RailCats 2-1 on Tuesday night, snapping Gary’s six-game winning streak. Reggie Wilson doubled twice for the Railcats (45-43), who fell 2.5 games behind first-place Lincoln (47-40) in the American Association’s Central Division. Sioux City (46-40) is a half-game out.
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff