The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

It took just days for Danrad Knowles to display the flashes of brilliance AD Cantbasket 04 expected when they signed the former Houston Cougar to his first pro contract.

In his first appearance with the club, Knowles scored a game high 17 to lead Cantbasket to a 62-60 win over Getxo ST at the Fadura Sports Center in Gexto, Spain.

Knowles led his team to an early 27-21 lead at the half but trailed 47-44 headed into the final quarter. But the 6’10” rookie scored several key field goals down the stretch in the fourth.

Agrupación Deportiva Cantbasket 04, is based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, and competes in Liga EBA. Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado (EBA), commonly known as Liga EBA, is a Spanish basketball championship that is the fourth tier level in the Spanish basketball league system, after the Liga ACB, LEB Oro, and LEB Plata.

The team opens the regular season September 18 in Logroño, Spain against LBC Cocinas.com.

Knowles last played locally in the New Providence Basketball Association with the Discount Distributors Rockets, where he averaged 10 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

As a prep prospect, Knowles was ranked 51st in the ESPN top 100 and he eventually committed to the Houston Cougars over Baylor and Arkansas.

As a redshirt freshman, he finished with averages of 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

As a sophomore he posted career highs across the board and scored 9.9 points and grabbed 5.6 rebounds per game in just over 27 minutes on the floor.

As a junior, his numbers dipped under new head coach Kelvin Sampson and he played in just over 17 minutes per game and scored six points and grabbed 3.7 rebounds per game.

Following his senior season, Knowles finished his career as school record holder with 72 conference games played and was tied for fourth in Houston career history with 126 games played.

He finished his senior season with averages of 7.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and one blocked shot per game while shooting 45 percent from the field.

He was selected by the Grand Rapids Drive with the 65th overall selection of the 2018 G-League Draft. The Grand Rapids Drive are the G-League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons.

With the senior men’s national team programme, Knowles was most recently a member of team Bahamas’ team at the FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers and World Cup China 2019 Qualifiers.