Apparently Eric Wallace doesn’t mind migrating even farther away from his North Carolina home so long as the path leads to better things on the basketball court.
The 6-5 forward decided yesterday to transfer from Ohio State to DePaul, completing his self-removal from Thad Matta’s Buckeye basketball program. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Wallace visited Chicago the weekend of May 17 and eventually picked the Blue Demons over LSU. He will have to sit out the upcoming season but will have sophomore eligibility beginning in 2009-10.
Wallace played in just 15 games as a true freshman last season at OSU and averaged 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. While his raw athletic ability never was in question and his attitude appeared to be first-rate as he waited his chance to play, the amiable youngster appeared to get caught in a numbers crunch in Columbus.
Wallace backed up sophomore David Lighty and also played much less often than classmates Jon Diebler and Evan Turner. That triumvirate of wings is back and the program also welcomes in highly skilled William Buford, a 6-5 swingman from Toledo who is the state’s reigning “Mr. Basketball” award winner.
Wallace was considered a three-star prospect with lofty potential when he committed to Ohio State in October 2006, signed a letter-of-intent the following month and finished up a productive season at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. Playing with and against topflight competition at Hargrave, he averaged right around 14 points and eight rebounds per game as a senior.
Prior to that season, Wallace was a standout performer at Robert B. Glenn High School in Kernersville, N.C. His junior season there he produced 22 points, 10 rebounds and three steals per game. Wallace also quickly began to garner a reputation as one of the premier dunkers in the entire Southeast., and he looked like a good fit with an incoming OSU class that also featured Diebler, Turner and post players Kosta Koufos and Dallas Lauderdale.
However, Wallace’s reserve role took a toll and he recently, according to Matta, told the coach he wanted to go somewhere where he could play 30 minutes a game.
DePaul could eventually provide that opportunity. The Blue Demons are still trying to rebuild under fourth-year head coach Jerry Wainwright and the program turnover was evident last season as freshmen Mac Koshwal and Dar Tucker were among the top three scorers on the team. DePaul finished 11-19 last season, 6-12 in Big East play.
Wainwright, who coached Lighty last summer on the USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team, was a successful head coach at UNC-Wilmington and Richmond prior to coming to DePaul and as a former assistant coach at Wake Forest he has ties to the Winston-Salem area. He knew about Wallace when the young basketball prospect was beginning to attain standout status in North Carolina.
That tie may have had an influence in the decision, although Wallace’s father, Monty, was not available for comment. Wallace said in a recent report that he is a fan of Wainwright’s system, which tends to highlight versatile players. He needs to work on his ball handling and shooting to play effectively in the backcourt but he has good quickness, rebounding ability and possesses an explosive, 43-inch vertical leap.
Wallace also considered LSU, most likely because three of his cousins played there – Vernel Singleton (1988-92), Sean Gipson (1992-94) and Stromile Swift (1998-00), an NBA veteran who played last season for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Wallace was an all-conference and all-county selection, as well as being named Robert B. Glenn High School’s Most Valuable Player. At Hargrave, he meshed well with a balanced and athletic team.
But Wallace’s college career did not take off as he planned.
“Eric is a tremendous person and student-athlete,” Matta said when the school announced Wallace’s decision to transfer on April 23. “We are thankful for his contributions to our team this past year. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”
Wallace scored a season-high 10 points in a blowout win over Iowa on Jan. 9, but never played more than five minutes in a game thereafter. He was 12 of 24 from the field, 1 of 1 from three-point range and 2 of 6 at the free-throw line. He logged just four fouls, one assist, three turnovers and one steal all season.
Wallace’s departure came on the heels of Koufos’ decision to submit his name for the NBA, which is at the end of the month.
Matta and staff already had lost the services of three outgoing seniors – point guard Jamar Butler and post players Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger. With Hunter, Terwilliger and Koufos out the door – and high school center B.J. Mullens the only inside player committed to arrive – the Buckeyes appear to be in a position to “go small” at the power forward position, possibly with the 6-5 Lighty shifting there. Lauderdale has limited abilities away from the basket and 6-10 Kyle Madsen played 50 minutes all last season.
Wallace might have been a candidate to get more playing time if he fit at the four spot, but apparently didn’t want to take on that role change and/or continue to back up Lighty.
