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Edmonds Junior College guard Shaquielle McKissic returned his grant-in-aid Thursday to finally make his transfer to Arizona State basketball official, according to the Arizona Republic's Doug Haller.
McKissic comes to Arizona State with only one year of eligibility left but the Sun Devils certainly won't be complaining due to the void left by Evan Gordon's transfer. McKissic averaged 23 points and nine rebounds a game last season at the junior college level and projects to play as a two-guard.
Mckissic also offers some physicality too as well, which could come in handy to replace the defense toughness that departed with Gordon. Here's what McKissic told Scout.com about the role the ASU coaches expect him to play:
"More than just being a good offensive player," McKissic stated, "the (ASU) coaches want me to be a defensive stopper. I up to any challenge and I don't shy away from anything. ASU is where I want to be and I'm gonna do what I have to do. The coaches told me that they were blown away by how well I can shoot and my athleticism. Those are my strong suits. I know I have to work more on my defense and I'm pretty excited working hard in the summer to get better."
ASU beat out Detroit and Nevada for McKissic's services. West Virginia was also thought to be pursuing McKissic before abruptly deciding to go in another direction a couple months ago, according to Scout.com.
Four years ago, McKissic was considered one of the west coast's top combo guards after graduating from Seattle's Kentridge High School but he's had a hard time living up to that billing since. McKissic left Northern Idaho before enrolling at the university and instead elected to play his first year at Edmonds Community College.
After that, McKissic sat out the next two seasons for what he called "personal reasons that have made me a better person and made me the person I am now," according to Scout.com. Let's just hope that's true because the last thing a young roster like this needs is a veteran power trip to drag the team down.
McKissic is planning to fulfill his remaining academic obligations at the junior college level before making his way to the Tempe Campus in late August. For that reason, he's currently not expected to travel with the team on their 10-day China trip.