A mobile big man will reinforce the Alaska Aces in its bid for redemption in the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Aces head coach Joel Banal has tapped the services of 6-11 Matt Haryasz to help turn around the fortunes of the Uytengsu franchise after a disappointing ninth place finished in the Philippine Cup. Haryasz played four years for the Stanford University Cardinals in the US NCAA. What is remarkable in Haryasz stint with the Cardinals is the elevation of his scoring year after year (from 1.8 ppg to 6.9 ppg to 12.5 ppg and finally to 16.2 ppg in 122 total games). The 27 year old Phoenix (AZ) native later played for the Arkansas RimRockers for two seasons in the NBA D-League. During the 2007-08 campaign, Haryasz saw action for seven games with Napoli in the Italian league, posting norms of 2.1 ppg and 1.9 rpg. Last season, he suited up for the Dutch club Groningen with averages of 11.6 ppg and 5.4 rpg in five outings. Banal is optimistic that Haryasz will be the man the Aces will anchor its post game and so far, is impressed with what he had seen during the training camp, according to the Aces official website.
“He`s very efficient. He`s also a proven winner, since high school and during his stay at Stanford University where he finished Sociology. I also talked at length with Tommy Sheppard, Vice President of Basketball Administration of the Washington Wizards, who had some really nice words about Matt. He talks and communicates a lot during practices. You see that he has real basketball intelligence. He is also very hard-working and applied himself to the game. I hope this attitude rubs off on his teammates.”
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