MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University men’s basketball coach Butch Estes announced the signing of University of Albany transfer Anders Haas.
Haas, a 6-1, 175-pound junior combo guard from Copenhagen, Denmark, spent one year at Albany – a Division I NCAA Tournament team that went 19-15 last season. Albany beat Mount St. Mary's in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Florida, an eventual Final Four team whom the Barry is expected to open the exhibition season against in 2014-15.
Haas played for State College of Florida-Manatee as a freshman in 2012-13.
“He’s a very gifted offensive player, who has three-point range, can take you off the dribble, and has a mid-range game,” Barry head coach Butch Estes said. “I see him giving us consistency and depth in the perimeter, and his ability to shoot will help us space the floor.”
At Albany, Haas scored a season-high 11 points in 10 minutes in an 86-56 win over the University of Maryland Baltimore County, in the America East quarterfinals. He had eight points in 11 minutes in a 70-59 win at Rider.
He shot 34 percent from 3-point range, and was an 84.6 percent free throw shooter in a limited role. He appeared in 21 games.
“He was a highly-touted player, and was looking for a home where he could be a bigger part of the puzzle,” Estes said. “He’s a pass-first, unselfish player who fits our style. He wants to do whatever he can to help our team be successful.”
Haas attended his final two years of high school at perennial power Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland, California, where he averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 assists per game, shooting 46.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc and 90.1 percent at the free throw line. He was selected to play for the Under-20 Senior Men’s Team in Denmark in the summer of 2013.
“Any time you get a player from an NCAA Tournament school, you’ve got to be excited about that,” Estes said. “I think Anders will bring a great deal of excitement to our team.”
Haas is the second signee in Barry's recruiting class. The Bucs also landed guard Hunter Osceola, a product of Class 5A state champion American Heritage in Plantation, Florida, in the early signing period.