It was a roundabout way, but Kristof Ongenaet is finally headed to a Division I school to play basketball.

The Belgian native became the sixth member of Syracuse’s 2007 recruiting class Tuesday when he signed his national letter of intent. Ongenaet has spent the last two years at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., after playing in Belgium for his entire life.

‘That was my initial dream (of playing Division I),’ Ongenaet said. ‘That’s the reason why I came to America. I didn’t know it then, but I went from a pretty high level to lower level here in America. That was a consequence I had to meet to get to D-I. To play at Syracuse is an honor. I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.’

Ongenaet, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward, averaged 12 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this past season for Cuesta. He had whittled down his choices to three schools – Colorado, Northwestern and Syracuse. It’s the rebounding that attracts the Orange.

‘I think, as a big guy, my versatility stuck out, and my all-around game,’ Ongenaet said. ‘There’s nothing that really sticks out – except my rebounds maybe.’

Maybe.

Ongenaet brings immediate help to Syracuse’s frontcourt, which lost all three starters from last season. Because he is transferring from a JUCO school, Ongenaet is eligible to play next season.

‘He’s not your prototypical European like Dirk Nowitzki standing out there and shooting 3-pointers,’ Cuesta head coach Rusty Blair said. ‘He’s a rebounding machine.’

Ongenaet dominated the Western State Conference and holds all of Cuesta’s rebounding records. He finished No. 4 in rebounding among players in the state’s 95 junior colleges.

His international experience is also a plus. Ongenaet played on Belgium’s national junior team and in leagues back home, which he said will prepare him for the physicality of the Big East.

‘I’ve been used to playing against the big guys when I was back in Belgium,’ Ongenaet said. ‘Now that I’ve played with the smaller guys and less physical, I really have to adjust again to those big guys. So I’ll have to be a lot stronger.

‘The (Belgian) game is more – I can only compare it to junior college – it’s a lot more physical, and they allow a lot more from the physical game as well.’

Even if the Belgian game was more physical than what Ongenaet saw in California, Blair said his forward added an extra 20 pounds of muscle mass since arriving in the states.

Also important, Blair said, is Cuesta played the 2-3 zone defense – Jim Boeheim’s trademark – for the past two seasons. Blair said it had no effect on Ongenaet’s rebounding capabilities. It only made him better.

‘He virtually wiped up the boards,’ Blair said.

Blair said the recruiting process began as early as a few months ago when one of his assistants contacted Syracuse associate head coach Bernie Fine. Three weeks ago, SU assistant Rob Murphy called Blair, and that’s when the pursuit heated up.

‘Coach Murphy was just looking for another player – they were looking for another forward,’ Ongenaet said. ‘He was narrowing it down. He had a list of 100 or something of just junior college players down to three, and one of them was me. I think my coach was the first one to call him back out of the three players.’

Ongenaet is Syracuse’s first JUCO recruit since Michael Lloyd and Jason Cipolla both arrived in 1994. Lloyd came from a junior college in Texas, Cipolla from Florida. Ongenaet will also be the first European to play for Boeheim since Elvir Ovcina (1995-99) from Bosnia.

The addition of a sixth member to the recruiting class of 2007 makes it Syracuse’s largest class since 1991-1992. That season, SU had Anthony Harris, Luke Jackson, Lawrence Moten, J.B. Reafsnyder, Glen Sekunda and Lazarus Sims listed as newcomers.

Both Rivals.com and Scout.com ranked this year’s class No.2 in the nation before the signing of Ongenaet.

Ongenaet will join Arinze Onuaku, Donte Greene, Rick Jackson and Devin Brennan-McBride in the Orange’s group of big men. Blair said there’s been every indication from Syracuse that they are more than ready to play Ongenaet.

Said Blair: ‘They told me, and they told him, that (he) can receive considerable playing time if he does what he did in Cuesta.’

Published on June 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm