Seven-foot-3 Tanveer Bhullar joins his 7-foot-5 brother at New Mexico State
New Mexico State's frontcourt will soon feature more than 14 feet of Bhullar.
Seven-foot-3 center Tanveer Bhullar, the younger brother of 7-foot-5, 340-pound rising sophomore Sim Bhullar, committed to play for the Aggies on Tuesday afternoon. The younger Bhullar will join his sibling in Las Cruces next month, adding another massive rim protector to a New Mexico State frontcourt already one of the biggest in the nation.
Bhullar told the Las Cruces Sun-News he received interest from the likes of Oklahoma, Oregon, Wichita State and New Mexico. He chose New Mexico State because of his familiarity with the players and coaches, his desire to play with his brother and his family's longtime relationship with assistant coach Paul Weir.
"It felt like family there, because I know half of the people on the team," Bhullar told the Sun-News. "Other schools showed interest, but I wanted to end it early. I'm happy that I'm committed and ready to head down to school and get ready to play basketball."
Bhullar initially intended to spend the 2013-14 school year in prep school before playing in college, but he decided recently that a year of instruction under college coaches would benefit him more. It's unclear at this point whether Bhullar will play next season alongside his brother or take a redshirt year.
If both Bhullar brothers play next season, the size of the New Mexico State frontcourt will be almost comical.
Sim, who's 7-foot-5, emerged as an interior force as his conditioning improved during the course of his redshirt freshman season, averaging 15 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in the semifinals and finals of the WAC tournament. Tanveer, who's 7-foot-3, arrives in Las Cruces slightly more polished and skilled than his brother, though he too will need to improve his conditioning. And in addition to the Bhullars, the New Mexico State frontcourt rotation will also include 6-foot-8 forward Renaldo Dixon and 6-foot-10 center Tshilidzi Nephawe.
What will be fascinating will be to see if New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies will play both Sim and Tanveer together if both play next season. Saint Louis showed in the NCAA tournament last season that smaller, quicker players can exploit Sim off the dribble, but having both brothers on the floor would certainly create new challenges for opponents.
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Colorado loses QB Shane Dillon to basketball
• Will Muschamp takes shot at Ohio State over NCAA violations
• Johnny Manziel is center of attention at SEC Media Days
