2 ACC programs inquire on VCU transfer Marcus Santos-Silva

It didn’t take long for Marcus Santos-Silva to become an attractive target on the transfer market. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Santos-Silva spent the last three seasons with VCU, two of them as a full-time starter. As a junior, Santos-Silva averaged 12.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Given his size, that’s a fairly diverse two-way impact.

A host of programs contacted Santos-Silva, including two from the ACC: Miami and Virginia Tech. (Earlier this month, he announced plans to test the 2020 NBA Draft waters.)

In 97 career games, Santos-Silva has 21 performances of 10 or more rebounds. That includes a 22-rebound performance against Rhode Island last season. (That total was tied for the third most in a Division I game during the 2018-19 season.)

Santos-Silva is a monster rebounder. Santos-Silva finished the 2019-20 season ranked 36th nationally in defensive rebound rate (26 percent) and 75th in offensive rebound rate (12.2 percent).

This year, Santos-Silva shot 64 percent at the rim — with a healthy volume of attempts (205 FGA) — including 20 dunks. Santos-Silva has never attempted a 3-pointer in a college game.

The Hurricanes have a fairly congested frontcourt, led by Cincinnati transfer Nysier Brooks (eligibile this season). Miami has plenty of returning 4/5 pieces, too. Top-25 recruit Earl Timberlake joins the forward mix as well.

Virginia Tech already added some power to its frontcourt this offseason: Iowa transfer Cordell Pemsl (6-foot-9, 250 pounds). After redshirting last season, like Brooks at Miami, Wofford transfer Keve Aluma (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) joins the rotation as well. However, it still can’t hurt to kick the can on a prospect like Santos-Silva, who hails from Massachusetts.

As of Wednesday, Kentucky had yet to reach out to Santos-Silva; however, with the decision of Purdue transfer Matt Haarms to head west to BYU, Kentucky may have to look for other options.

 

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