USF Dons Add Mario Zimaridis to 2014-2015 Roster

Head Coach Rex Walters and the San Francisco Dons have been hot on the recruiting front recently, landing seemingly commit after commit from all areas of the country. According to Verbal Commits, instead of looking ahead to 2015, Walters is shaping up his 2014 roster by adding Mario Zimaridis, a 6-foot-7 small forward out of the Coastal Academy in Belmar, NJ. Zimaridis is a native of Istanbul Turkey and plays for the club team Anadolou Efes in his home country.

According to the website recruitrecon.com, Zimaridis was previously committed to walk-on at Farleigh Dickinson, but apparently he has decided to flip his commitment to San Francisco and head out west for his college. Since the Dons have no scholarships remaining for the upcoming season, Zimaridis will most likely be joining USF as a walk-on as well.

By perusing through stats and watching film on him, Zimaridis is a capable scorer that is hindered by a lack of elite athleticism. It doesn’t appear Zimaridis lack of athleticism in the video effected his overall play too much against the competition he was up against, but that might change once he enters the realm of Division I basketball, where athleticism matters much more. According to CustomCollegeRecruiting.com, Zimaridis scored 10 points per game and shot 55.0 percent from beyond the arc in the 2011-2012 season.

This is an interesting pick-up for Walters and the Dons, and gives them another shooter at their disposal supposedly. The Dons should have a bevy of shooters to turn to during the season, with the four freshmen being advertised as talented shooters from 3-point land and Mark Tollesen, Tim Derksen and Chris Adams already on the roster.

At this point, Zimaridis appears to be more of a pickup for security reasons, and the extent of his usage will most likely be minimal, considering the players already in the program.