The Vandals men’s basketball team has scored another top transfer by picking up Landon Tatum, an NJCAA All-Star point guard out of South Plains College in Texas. Tatum, who will join the Vandals as a junior, scored 7.1 points and dished up 5.8 assists per game last season, playing a key role in the Texans’ run to the Region 5 title game and 27-4 overall record.
In his freshman season, Tatum contributed 6.1 points and 5.3 assists to an NJCAA national championship-winning campaign. Current Vandal sharpshooter Luciano de Souza was one of Tatum’s teammates on that squad – and SPC is suddenly looking like a solid pipeline for Idaho.
Tatum cited the strong support of Vandal Nation (the fans, not the blog) as a major factor in his decision to come to Moscow.
“I felt the community is really behind the coaches. On my visit, everywhere we went people were coming up to them and congratulating them on their season and all the guys are excited about next season and looking to improve,” Tatum said.
It’s not known whether Tatum will redshirt next season or not – he does have that year available. The Vandals are well-stocked at point guard next year, with Mac Hopson returning and Steffan Johnson coming off his transfer redshirt season. Both are seniors, so it would seem to make sense to save Tatum’s eligibility for 2011-12.
