Norelia withdraws from NBA Draft, returns to FGCU
FGCU men’s basketball coach Joe Dooley got some good news on Wednesday when forward Marc-Eddy Norelia announced that he has withdrawn his name from the 2016 NBA?Draft pool and will return to school for his redshirt senior season.
Norelia announced his intention to declare for the draft last month, but did not hire an agent, allowing him to maintain his amateur status as he went through the evaluation process. The 6-foot-8 Norelia attended workouts scheduled by NBA teams and got feedback from professional scouts and evaluators on what he needs to improve in his game to play at the professional level.
“Going through the process the last month was extremely valuable for me,” said Norelia. “As I’ve said previously, playing in the NBA has always been my dream. Thankfully, I was able to take advantage of this new system in place which allowed me to see just where I stood relative to my peers and learn what exactly I need to work on to help me get to the professional level. I’m excited and looking forward to returning to FGCU for my senior year and hopefully bringing another Atlantic Sun Championship back to The Nest.”
In January, NCAA officials adopted a proposal that, among other provisions, changed the date (May 25) by which a student-athlete must remove his name from the NBA Draft without forfeiting his amateur status, which is 10 days before the draft. The intention was to provide student-athletes the chance to make more fully-informed decisions of returning to school or preparing themselves for a potential basketball career.
“We’re looking forward to having Marc-Eddy back with us for his senior season,” said Eagles coach Joe Dooley. “The feedback he received on what he needed to improve in his game without losing his amateurism is exactly why this system was put in place. Marc-Eddy is an extremely talented player, and with a few adjustments he really has the potential to take his game to an even higher level next year.”
Norelia is coming off a 2015-16 campaign in which he was an A-Sun first-team selection, A-Sun Tournament MVP and A-Sun All-Tournament team pick. He shattered the program’s single-season double-double record with 16, seven more than the previous mark of nine set by Robinson Tisme in the inaugural 2002-03 campaign. Furthermore, the southpaw missed six more double-doubles by just a single rebound each time.
Additionally, he established program single-season records in points (597), rebounds (325) and field goals made (234). Norelia led FGCU in scoring (17.1) and rebounding (9.3), ranking 6th in the A-Sun in points per game, second in rebounds per game and fourth in field goal percentage (.545).
Norelia is the first player in FGCU history to secure more than 275 rebounds in a season, his points total is 17 more than anyone else and he made 24 more shots than the previous record. His 17.1 scoring average was the best in D-I program single-season history, and his 9.3 rebound average was a full rebound better than the previous record of 8.3 by Adam Liddell in 2006-07.
Norelia scored a Division-I program record-tying 34 points and finished one rebound shy of matching the D-I program single-game rebounding record with 18 against Youngstown State on Nov. 21.
Norelia led FGCU in scoring 18 times this past season and posted double-doubles in four of the Eagles’ five postseason games (three A-Sun Championship contests and two NCAA Tournament games). The only time he didn’t record a double-double in that stretch was in the A-Sun final versus Stetson when he totaled 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
In the final 11 games of the year, Norelia secured double-doubles in eight of them and missed two more by a single rebound.
The Orlando native led FGCU to a second A-Sun Championship title and NCAA Tournament appearance in four years. The Eagles finished 21-14 overall and tied for second in the league with an 8-6 mark before embarking on three straight wins as the fourth seed to claim the title, including a 33-point rout at North Florida in the semifinals.
In the NCAA Tournament, Norelia posted a 20-point, 10-rebound performance in the First Four round against Fairleigh Dickinson en route to a dominant 96-65 victory. Against top-seeded North Carolina in the First Round, the Eagles trailed by just one at the half before falling to the Tar Heels 83-67.