USU men’s hoops adds Russian commit Zakhar Vedischev
After officially announcing two walk-ons, Matthew Wickizer and Karson Stastny, to the 2020 roster and seemingly wrapping up this year’s recruiting class, Craig Smith and his staff have reportedly added Russian guard/forward Zakhar Vedishchev (also spelled “Zahar”) to its 2020 team.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony posted on Twitter that sources had told ESPN the 6-foot-5 wing had committed to play in Logan.
Zakhar Vedischev has committed to Utah State, a source told ESPN. The 6'5 class of 2020 Russian guard had an excellent showing at last summer's FIBA U19 World Cup in Crete, including a 24 outburst against USA. Was a starter in the VTB league this season with Lokomotiv Kuban.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 21, 2020
A day later, Utah State officially confirmed the news with a press release announcing the addition.
Vedishchev broke out during 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece — his first-ever appearance in an international competition — leading his native Russia in scoring with 16.5 points per game. Much of that scoring came from beyond the arc as he sank a tournament-best 21 triples in his six games played. Percentage-wise, Vedishchev made 40.4 percent of his 8.7 downtown attempts per game.
His best games during the World Cup came after the group stage. After sitting out the Round of 16 matchup against China, Vedishchev scored 20-plus points in three consecutive contests — 24 against the United States, 22 versus Serbia and another 22 against Puerto Rico. Across those three games, Vedishchev’s averages rose to 22.7 points on 45.1 percent shooting (42.4 percent from three) along with 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest, as opposed to 10.3 points, 1.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his first three games.
FIBA’s website named featured Vedishchev in an article about “Five players who blossomed” at the World Cup.
Prior to his debut on the international stage, Vedishchev spent a year at famed basketball prep high school, Montverde Academy, playing with fellow sophomore and future NBA lottery pick, R.J. Barrett. Following his 2016-17 sophomore campaign, Vedishchev played two seasons with the youth squad of Lokomotiv Kuban, a Russian team owned by his father, Andrey.
It was to Lokomotiv Kuban that the young wing returned to play for in the fall and winter of 2019-20 following the World Cup. He played in 11 games for the senior team, making six starts. Vedishchev also made seven appearances with one start for Kedainiai Nevezis of the Lithuanian pro league.
While playing with these two squads, Vedishchev’s numbers were not nearly as good as with the U19 national team. He averaged just 12.6 minutes per game with 5.2 points on 33.3 percent shooting overall and 25.4 percent from 3-point range.
Vedishchev did have multiple breakout performances, going for 21 points with Nevisis in a loss to Siauliai on Nov. 20 and later 16 points with Lokomotiv Kuban in a win over Enisey on Jan. 25. Those games accounted for two of the four times Vedishchev scored in double figures in league play.
@thejwalk67
— jasonswalker94@gmail.com