Long Island signs Prince Ibeh, Texas shot blocker

The Long Island Nets have acquired center Prince Ibeh off waivers. At 6'11" with a 7'5 ½" wingspan, Ibeh is seen as a prospective shot-blocker. Long Island has also requested waivers on forward Lazar Hayward.

Ibeh joins the Nets after a four-year collegiate career (2012-16) at the University of Texas. As a senior, Ibeh was named the 2016 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. He went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft.

In his senior season for the Longhorns, Ibeh (pronounced E-Bay) averaged 4.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 18.1 minutes. He shot 57.8 percent overall, but only 41.8 percent from the foul line. Ibeh also appeared in four games for the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2016 NBA Summer League team.

Here’s what Draft Express wrote about Ibeh last April...

It took a few years longer than the Longhorns had hoped, but 6' 11” center Prince Ibeh finally showed some signs of life during his senior campaign, boosting his NBA Draft stock in the process.

With Cameron Ridley missing 20 games due to injury, head coach Shaka Smart turned to Ibeh, who had spent the majority of his first three years battling foul trouble, offensive limitations and confidence issues.

While he still fought some of those same demons, the London, England native set single-game career highs in points (17), rebounds (12) and blocks (7), and played 25 or more minutes eight times – a feat he accomplished only once in his first three seasons.

Unlike Rick Barnes before him, Smart found a way to get something out of Ibeh, highlighted by a seven-point, seven-rebound, seven-block performance versus Kansas in a career-high 35 minutes of play. At times, Ibeh looked like a poor man's DeAndre Jordan, who was also marred by lackluster college production, leading to second-round pick status.

Here’s highlights from his senior season last year at Texas...

Hayward appeared in 20 games for Long Island this season, recording averages of 12.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 24.3 minutes per game. He was originally acquired by Long Island in the 2016 NBA D-League Expansion Draft.

No word on Hayward’s future.

Meanwhile, Long Island’s Trahson Burrell has been selected to compete in the NBA D-League Slam Dunk contest on Saturday, February 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans during All-Star Weekend.

Preliminary rounds of the contest will take place during the NBA All-Star Practice, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET, with the final round taking place during halftime of the NBA D-League All-Star Game, which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. The first round will be streamed live on the NBA D-League’s Facebook page, while the final round will air live on NBA TV.