Men's Basketball Announces Addition of Tafari Whittingham

Head coach Donyell Marshall and the Central Connecticut men's basketball team has announced Tafari Whittingham will attend CCSU in the Fall of 2016. Whittingham will be a transfer student-athlete to Central with one year of eligibility remaining and becomes the sixth commitment for Marshall and the Blue Devils for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

"We felt like we needed veteran leadership at the big man/power forward position and Tafari is somebody who has played big minutes  and helped his team win," Marshall said. "He's one of those big men who does all the small things - rebounds, block shots, plays defense - and he's a very vocal leader. When I talked to his coach, he had nothing but good things to say about his leadership role. I thought our entire coaching staff did a great job of convincing him that this was the right place for him to be and the right fit to continue his career and make his chances of playing professionally a reality."

Whittingham, a 6-foot-8 forward who will have one year of eligibility, comes to Central Connecticut after spending two seasons at the University of South Alabama. He played in 30 games as a senior at USA, making 18 starts and averaged 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game, while ranking second on the team with 22 blocked shots. Whittingham earned a medical redshirt after playing just five games during his junior campaign. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Whittingham arrived at USA after playing two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, KS, where he averaged 9.8 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds as a sophomore. He helped the Blue Dragons to a Region VI championship and their first NJCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 as a freshman. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.