Weber State commit George Darling had arguably the best end to the season of anyone on the Lancashire Spinners – but he had to wait for his opportunity after missing nearly three months through injury.
The 19-year-old, who also fielded interest from Montana State, Elon and Arkansas Little Rock, averaged 7.8 points on 65.2 percent shooting (15-23) and 4.8 rebounds in four games to end divisional play, including highs of 13 points and seven boards against the Kent Crusaders Mar. 19.
“Playing with the Spinners over the course of the year has helped me become a better and more physical player at both ends of the floor,” said Darling. “It’s helped me realise how effective I can be in a variety of ways.”
And with a season of men’s basketball under his belt, Darling will head to the Utah-based Weber State Wildcats of the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA in the United States and to a team – coached by Randy Rahe (10th year) – that has made the National Tournament in two of the last four years.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to go play basketball at such a high level – it gives me the chance to showcase my skills, which will hopefully help me progress into playing basketball professionally,” said the 6-foot-10 forward. “The level of professionalism and attention the coaches showed me throughout last season was what led me to sign with Weber State.”
Although relatively soft-spoken off the court, Darling has shown his game has bite and in 20 games in 2015-16 he made several electrifying and veteran-esque plays to help propel the Spinners to key wins at the end of the season, including a double-double against Chester in the first round of the National Cup.
“George [Darling] has developed a considerable amount despite his injury setback,” said Lancashire and Myerscough head coach Neal Hopkins. “Weber State is a situation that will suit him well and I’m sure he will continue to make positive strides forward whilst there.”
He totalled 82 points (4.1 PPG) and 57 rebounds (2.9 RBG) in his lone season with the Spinners, and shot 49.4 percent from the floor, which ranked fourth on the team.
WEBER STATE FACT-FILE: The Wildcats call the Dee Evans Center home … They finished 26-9 overall (15-3 Conf.) en route to being crowned regular season champions … Won the Big Sky Conference Tournament and made their 16th appearance in the National Tournament in 2016 … WSU is a public university located in Ogden, Utah, which gained university status in 1991 … Has over 26,000 students … The anthropomorphic mascot is named “Waldo the Wildcat”.
Allen Gunn
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