Anthony 'Duke' Etheridge coming to UTC next season

photo University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball coach Will Wade.
Arkansas-Oklahoma State Live Blog

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be getting Duke in McKenzie Arena next season.

No, not the school of that name for a game, but Anthony "Duke" Etheridge. The 6-foot-5 South Georgia Technical College wing player has given a commitment to play for the Mocs next season.

"I feel real good about that decision and I wanted to get everything out of the way," said Etheridge, who has been called "Duke" since he was a little boy but doesn't know the origin of the nickname. "They have a nice program and Coach [Will] Wade is a good coach, and I like everything that he's got going on."

Etheridge was freshman of the year and named to the first team of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association last season. He will transfer in with three years to play two seasons for the Mocs.

He averaged 19.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line last season, when the Jets went 22-10.

"He's a very explosive and very powerful athlete and a kid that is working hard on his skills," SGTC coach Steven Wright said. "He has very good range on his jump shot and finishes very well around the basket."

Etheridge jumped on Wade's recruiting board this summer while playing at the Mullen JuCo Top 100 camp just outside St. Louis.

"He'd been recruited a lot before the camp and more since then, because he had a very good showing there," Wright said. "Coach Wade called me that Sunday morning. He told me how important Duke was to him, and he showed me through the recruiting process."

Etheridge took two visits to UTC, an early unofficial visit and then his official visit this past weekend where he spent time with current players including Justin Tuoyo and grabbed dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

"Chattanooga is really the only visits he's been on," Wright said. "Other schools were talking with him. But Chattanooga and Coach Wade was the front-runner from the start. Duke knows it's a good situation for him."

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

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