The international flavor of the Wildcats just keeps getting stronger.
The latest addition to the Northwestern men’s basketball team is Montreal native Mohamed Hachad, who committed to the school Tuesday. Another possible recruit, Croatian Ivan Tolic, is currently visiting NU.
“It was my first choice,” Hachad said. “I thought I should visit Northwestern and I liked it. I visited two weeks ago and I was very impressed by everything – the city was nice, the people were nice.
“I’m looking forward to joining the team and getting close to the action.”
The 6-foot-5 guard will forgo his last year of high school in Canada to come to Evanston, after being recruited by Kansas, Marquette, Boston College, Kent State and Baylor.
“When you leave, you improve, you get better,” Hachad said. “By staying here, I would have lost the chance to get better.”
Hachad, who attended Champlain St. Lambert, was named Mr. Quebec by a panel of writers across Canada, said John Dangelas, head coach at the school.
In his final season at Champlain St. Lambert, Hachad missed seven league games, spanning two months, after sustaining a stress fracture in his foot, Dangelas said.
“He’s got really good range on his three, a good pull-up jumper,” Dangelas said. “He’s crafty (and) he makes things happen.”
Dangelas said Hachad creates mismatches at the point guard spot because of his size.
“(He) gets inside the key really easily, attracts the defense,” Dangelas said. “He’s an awesome rebounder for his size. He loves to run. He’s a tremendous basketball player.
“You know when you’re a coach, you come across a couple of great ones. He’s one of them.”
But Hachad might not be the only late addition to the Cats’ roster. NU head coach Bill Carmody will soon learn whether the Big Ten will grant former NU player Drew Long a medical non-counter, which would give the team an extra scholarship for the fall. Long left the team after doctors unexpectedly found several tears on the outside of the cartilage on his hip when he had surgery April 4.
Tolic, a native of Split, Croatia, arrived in Evanston on Thursday and will shoot around with the team today, current NU player Vedran Vukusic told The Daily. Tolic has not yet made a decision on whether to attend NU.
Tolic played with and Vukusic in Croatia. If Tolic joins the Cats, he will be the third member of the team from Split, along with freshmen Vukusic and Davor Duvancic.
“He was good under the basket, a good short-range shooter, a good passer,” Vukusic said of the 6-foot-9 Tolic. “I think he could play here. He wants to come to the States, I think. As far as I know, (NU) is the only school interested in him.”
If Tolic joins Hachad in Carmody’s latest recruiting class, there will be six international students on the team. Three foreign recruits came to Evanston for the 2001-02 season – Vukusic, Duvancic and Thomas Soltau, who is from Denmark.
This year’s recruiting class could include three foreign students in addition to two domestic recruits. Point guard T.J. Parker moved to the United States from France just a year ago. Home-grown talents Jimmy Maley and Evan Seacat will also be joining the Cats in the fall.
