By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JUST over a week after he picked up his official offer from Texas Rio Grande Valley, Shavaul Butters chose to conclude his recruitment process and committed to the Vaqueros men’s basketball programme.

“I would like to thank the man above for giving me the opportunity to play the game of basketball. I would like to thank coach Sears, coach Mac, coach Henson and all my other coaches who looked out for the betterment of my future both on and off the court. Next, I would like to thank my friends and teammates for pushing me everyday to help get me where I need to be,” Butters said.

“Finally, I would like to thank my family, without them, none of this would be possible. The countless hours of support you put in for me does not go unnoticed. With that being said I would like to announce that I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Go Vaqueros.”

The 6’8”, 210-pound forward is the first commit of the first class for new head coach Matt Figger.

The Vaqueros compete in the Western Athletic Conference. They concluded last season 9-10, 2-5 in the WAC and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament.

Listed as a two-star recruit by Verbal Commits, Butters is in the midst of his final season with Elevation Prep in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Grand Bahama native spent the previous season with Aspire Academy in Louisville, Kentucky.

Butters began to garner attention from major Division I basketball programmes and received his first offer of what is expected to be an active recruiting process last summer.

He was officially offered by the Austin Peay State University Governors.

Butters also received high interest from UNLV, Maryland, Eastern Kentucky, North Carolina- Greensboro and several others.

Figger, the former head coach at Austin Peay, takes over a Vaqueros programme still healing after the death of previous coach Lew Hill back in February.