N.C. State forward Gavin Grant now can plan for his senior basketball season without any lingering worries about an immigration hearing or possible deportation.
Grant’s attorney, Anna Baird Choi of Raleigh, said today that immigration Judge Wayne Houser Jr. had administratively closed the removal proceeding against Grant. That cleared the way for Grant, who was born in Jamaica, to proceed with his application for permanent resident status.
“Gavin, his family and everybody close to him are very happy,” Choi said. “He can now move forward with his application for a green card. It’s a relief to everyone.”
Unlike past years when the offseaon was littered with transfers, injuries and recruiting propoganda that annually made you believe that NC State was going to win next year’s National Championship…THIS offseason is producing some good news for NC State’s Basketball program.
For example, earlier this week John DeLong highlighted the strength of the Wolfpack’s recruiting class in this article in the WS Journal.
There are four incoming freshmen to go with two players who transferred in last year and will be eligible in the coming season. The four freshmen alone – center J.J. Hickson, forwards Tracy Smith and Johnny Thomas, and guard Javier Gonzalez – gave State the No. 14 class in the nation, according to PrepStars, and the No. 2 class in the ACC behind Duke. Scout.com rated the class No. 17 in the nation and No. 2 in the ACC.
Click here for much deeper conversation related to the Wolfpack’s recruiting class.
With Gavin Grant’s presence now guaranteed, the Wolfpack is certain to return the bulk of last season’s squad that improved and looked more comfortable with each game. In fact, just last week a website listed that Coach Sidney Lowe‘s team will return two of the top ten players in the entire conference in Brandon Costner and Gavin Grant. In case you missed it, you will definitely want to read this entry regarding Brandon Costner.
Now – as you saw from the quote/link above – Gavin Grant’s immigration hearings are behind him and all is clear for GG’s senior year. Despite a solid statistical year (ignoring turnovers), Grant did not have the kind of breakthrough junior season as some expected. With three new guards more capable of running the point than Grant, Gavin can now focus with certainty on playing the wing. Additionally, SFN is hearing that shooting guard Courtney Fells has taken his commitment to basketball to the next level and has been working very hard to improve his game this summer – (namely shooting and defense).
If Grant can just slightly improve his shooting percentage while Fells makes a significant improvement in his offensive game, the Wolfpack will be very strong AND deep in the front court and on the wings. Hopefully, the reduction in turnovers created by a true point guard running the team as opposed to Grant will have a huge effect on the Wolfpack’s offensive efficiency next season. Similarly, there is too much potential depth on this team for the defense to loaf this season.
All in all…it feels like the 2007-2008 season is shaping up nicely.
