The CAA Champion Hofstra Pride may have found their new starting guards. The Pride signed guards rising junior Shawndarius Cowart and freshman Vukasin Masic Thursday afternoon.
The pair are potential candidates to earn spots in the starting lineup next season following Desure Buie, Connor Klementowicz and Eli Pemberton‘s graduations. Buie and Pemberton started every game as guards for the Pride this year.
Cowart announced his commitment intention to Hofstra on Tuesday, March 31. The rising junior joins after playing two seasons of JUCO-ball with the Pensacola Pirates. He played in 58 games and started all but one.
Shawndarius established himself as an offensive asset by knocking down 45 percent of his shots and scoring over 12 points per game with the Pirates. He sank 42 percent of his three-pointers in his sophomore season and shot over 72 percent from the charity stripe overall.
The guard led the Panhandle Conference by dishing 6.5 assists and earning 2.3 steals per game last season. The all-around threat also finished third in the conference by grabbing 7.3 boards per contest. He was named to the 2019-20 First Team All Panhandle Conference team.
ESPN recruiting analyst Adam Finkelstein announced Masic would join the program in a tweet on Tuesday, March 24. Vukasin enters after leading the Hoosac Owls with 21 points, six rebounds and assists per contest last season. His efforts earned the guard All-New England honors and an NEPSAC Class AAA honorable mention
Masic enters Hofstra with international experience after representing the Serbian National Team. He ranked 30th among other guards by scoring seven points per game in the 2019 U-18 European Championship. Vukasin also shot over 55 percent from the floor in 23 games with the KK Crvena Zvezda Junior Team.
The moves bumped up the Pride’s incoming class to four. Incoming freshmen Zion Bethea and David Green signed with Hofstra last November.
Hofstra finished 26-8 and earned its first-ever CAA postseason championship this past season. The Pride were predicted to have the No.14-seed and face No.3-seed Villanova in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
