Albrecht, Barnett give commitments

Former UT basketball players Stephen Albrecht and Jake Barnett have chosen where they will play next season. Albrecht will be heading to Brown, while Barnett has chosen St. Louis.

“I [considered Division II], but I just looked at my future and the possibility of having an Ivy League Degree was something I couldn’t pass up,” Albrecht said. “I can really relate to the coaching staff and they have some assistant coaches that played for the head coach, so I just felt comfortable.”

Albrecht chose Brown over Cornell and Liberty. He also had a walk-on opportunity at Boston College, with a scholarship option in his last two years.

Although he will have to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules, Albrecht has petitioned the NCAA to get a waiver to allow him to play in next year’s second semester.

Albrecht left the team on Dec. 21 after Toledo’s 55-54 loss to Indiana State. He finished the season second on the team with 11.2 points and third in assists at 2.6 apg.

The transfer by Albrecht was a major blow to the Rockets offense. Before his departure, the Rockets scored over 61 ppg and helped UT score over 60 points in 7-of-12 games. In 20 games without him, Toledo scored just over 50 ppg while scoring over 60 points on just one occasion.

“My goals are to keep getting stronger and work on every part of my game, especially my ball handling and shooting,” Albrecht said. “The coaching staff there does a nice job of developing players and I know what they’re telling me will help get the job done to help win some games when I get the chance.”

Barnett was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman team last season scoring a team-high 12.9 ppg, the second-most points by a freshman in UT history. He will be joining St. Louis under veteran head coach Rick Majerus.

“He has the ability to knock down the 3-ball with a great degree of regularity and can stretch the defense,” Majerus said. “Best of all, he can feed the post, and that should give us space to play with on the court. I like his toughness, and he can play the 2 or 3 spot. His tenacity will enable him to cover the 1, 2 or 3 position defensively.”

Barnett was named as a team captain for Toledo last season. The 6-5 guard was the first player in UT history to be named as a captain in his freshman season.

Barnett transferred shortly after former head coach Gene Cross’ resignation this year. Barnett was one of seven players to transfer over the course of the year, including sophomores Larry Bastfield and Ian Salter and freshmen Albrecht, Jordan Dressler, Josh Freelove and Neil Watson.