A 7-foot-1 center from Nigeria is among four players who have committed to play basketball for the University of Maine starting next fall.
Chris Efretuei, a graduate transfer from Louisiana Monroe, will bring an unprecedented interior presence to the frontcourt for coach Richard Barron’s Black Bears.
He is one of two transfers to join UMaine along with Vukasin Masic, a 6-5 guard who comes to Orono from Hofstra.
UMaine also welcomes 6-1 point guard Byron Ireland from Annapolis, Maryland, and 6-8 forward Kristians Feierbergs of Riga, Latvia.
Efretuei started 24 games at Louisiana Monroe and averaged 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. He previously played at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and helped the team post back-to-back 28-win seasons and make consecutive junior college national tournament appearances, including the 2018 national title.
He played high school basketball at First Love Christian Academy in Pittsburgh.
Masic, from Belgrade, Serbia, played in 20 games last season with three starts for the Pride. He was a member of Serbian National Team at the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship.
Ireland played at St. Frances Academy in Maryland, while was one of the top 25 high school teams in the country.
Feierbergs averaged 19.5 points last year with GBA Sojky Pelhrimov in the Czech Republic.