A couple of tall African basketball players — Beas Hamga and Ibrahima Thomas — are back on the market.Hamga, a 7-foot, 225-pound native of Cameroon, is considering transferring from UNLV to Ole Miss, South Carolina or Rutgers. He secured his release from UNLV. “I know he’s going to visit Ole Miss and South Carolina and he’s looking at one more to visit and make up his mind,” Mark Adams, Hamga’s guardian, said by phone from Indiana. “He’s going to visit a third school and there’s a good chance it will be Rutgers.” Adams said no date had been set on the Rutgers visit. Hamga signed with UNLV out of Decatur (Il.) Christian and redshirted his first year. He played in just five games this season before deciding to transfer. He was ranked the No. 5 center in the Class of 2007 by Rivals. He will have two and a half years of eligibility remaining, beginning in December 2009. “He’s a very good defensive rebounder and shot blocker,” Adams said. “He’s a very good defensive player. Like most African kids he needs to work on his offense. He’s got a nice shot. He can definitely shoot it.” Hamga will visit South Carolina Dec. 30 for the Clemson game. The other visits have yet to be worked out. As for the 6-10 Thomas, he has finally secured a release from Oklahoma State, according to Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. Thomas is considering Marquette, Cincinnati, Villanova, Kentucky, Illinois State and Rutgers. A close friend of Rutgers junior center Hamady N’Diaye, Thomas has visited the Rutgers campus several times. Thomas was averaging 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game in seven starts for the Cowboys this season. The native of Dakar, Senegal, averaged six points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year.
