Foreign recruit gets head start on Monarchs' 2012 class

Stuart McEwen holds a New Zealand passport, has Australian residency and played prep school basketball in Connecticut.

The well-traveled power forward has made Old Dominion his latest home, joining the team as a midseason redshirt.

McEwen, 6-foot-9 and just shy of 200 pounds, has enrolled in school and would be eligible to play immediately if coach Blaine Taylor wanted. Instead, he'll get a half-year head start on the rest of the Monarchs' recruiting class of 2012.

"If you were to look at that class and ask what you'd want to put with it, he would be the last ingredient," Taylor said.

Indeed, the Monarchs had signed a point guard, shooting guard, small forward and center. McEwen completes the lineup.

He averaged 11 points and seven rebounds for the post-graduate team at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn. He had planned to spend the whole season there, but jumped at the chance to enroll midyear at ODU, he said.

"I was open for anything. I came down for a visit and loved it, so it was an easy decision," he said. "I liked the chance to do really well academically with that extra half year, and to develop as a player."

McEwen grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, and moved to Australia six years ago. The exposure he received playing basketball there enabled him to prep in Connecticut, he said.

Long-armed and rangy, with 3-point range, he also received recruiting interest from American University, Davidson, Manhattan, Hartford and Maine, among others, he said.

McEwen will be eligible to practice with the team once he passes an NCAA-mandated medical test. He'll be on the bench for tonight's game against Missouri at the Constant Center, and will be looking to add weight and strength while redshirting.

"He's obviously in his formative stages," Taylor said. "We're hoping a year of practice and in the weight room will pay off. He's the kind of student who with a redshirt year could do some really neat things academically, so he really fits well with the future of the program."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com