Banvit of the Turkish Basketball League formally announced the signing of former Hofstra guard Antoine Agudio to a professional contract on Wednesday.
Agudio finished his Hofstra career last season with a school-record 2,276 points, breaking the 43-year old school record of 2,222 points set by Steve Nisenson from 1962-65. He broke the record on Feb. 27 in a road game at Delaware. He also graduated as far and away the school's all-time leading three-point shooter with 357 in four seasons, shattering the old school record of 192 held by Norman Richardson. He ended his career with the top four single-season three-point totals in Hofstra annals (100, 91, 84, 82), while his 357 three-pointers also ranked him second in Colonial Athletic Association history.
Agudio was a two-time first-team All-CAA selection, as well as a two-time first-team All-Metropolitan New York selection. He helped Hofstra to three straight postseason appearances in the National Invitation Tournament from 2005-07, helping the Pride reach the NIT quarterfinals in 2006, when it won its first two Division I postseason games in school history. Hofstra finished the 2006 season with a school-record 26 wins, while Agudio ended his career with 81 wins, an average of over 20 per season.
Agudio becomes the latest in a long line of recent Hofstra basketball alumni to earn professional contracts, including Speedy Claxton ('00), who is entering his ninth NBA season this year with the Atlanta Hawks. Loren Stokes ('07) finished last season in Belgium after beginning his professional career in Cyrpus. Carlos Rivera ('07) began last year in Poland, where he was teammates with former Hofstra guard Norman Richardson ('01), before joining the professional league in his native Puerto Rico (Richardson has signed to play in Germany for this coming year, where former Hofstra center Lars Grubler ('03) also plays).
Rick Apodaca ('03) also returned to the Puerto Rican league after playing last season in Turkey for regular season champion Besiktas. Aurimas Kieza ('06) played last season in his native Lithuania, Adrian Uter ('06) is currently playing in Portugal, and Wendell Gibson ('05) played in Uruguay last year and will play in Argentina this year. Kenny Harris ('06) played in Kuwait for one season and is now playing in Australia, while Roberto Gittens ('01) also played professionally overseas, most recently during the 2006-07 season in Finland.
