WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary head men's basketball coach Tony Shaver announced the addition of transfer Andy Van Vliet (Antwerp, Belgium) to the Tribe program. Van Vliet spent his first three years in the Big Ten at the University of Wisconsin, and will have one year of eligibility remaining for the Green and Gold after sitting out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
 
"Andy is an outstanding addition, a student-athlete who will bring both high-level talent and experience to our program," Shaver said. "His size, skill set and versatility are a great fit for our style of play, and he possesses a strong basketball IQ that will enable him to impact the game in a variety of ways. Andy is also a gifted passer, and coupled with his ability to shoot the ball, will give us another potent offensive threat both inside and on the perimeter. He was a highly regarded recruit coming out of high school, and I love that he brings both international and Big Ten playing experience to our team. Andy will continue to develop this season as he prepares for his final year of eligibility in 2019-20. We are thrilled that he chose to continue his academic and basketball career at W&M!"
 
The 7-foot forward appeared in 31 games, including four starts, over the last two seasons for the Badgers, averaging 2.5 points and 1.4 rebounds per contests. He sat out the 2015-16 season after the NCAA ruled him ineligible for not enrolling in college within a year of high school graduation. Van Vliet becomes the first Tribe 7-footer since Adam Duggins in 2002-03.
 
Van Vliet entered the 2017-18 season as a starter along the Badgers' front line. In starting the first four games of the year, he averaged 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and nearly a blocked shot per game in 16.8 minutes. During his junior season, Van Vliet played 20 or more minutes in three games and averaged 15 points and 4.3 rebounds in those contests, while shooting 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from 3-point range.
 
In Wisconsin's season opener against South Carolina State in 2017, Van Vliet started and scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range in 22 minutes to go along with a career-best eight rebounds. He followed that performance up with 13 points and three rebounds in a win over Yale. In February, Van Vliet came off the bench and busted Northwestern's zone defense in a 70-64 road win. He poured in 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, in a career-high 24 minutes.
 
Prior to signing at Wisconsin, Van Vliet chose the Badgers over Oklahoma State, St. Mary's and Washington State among programs. The left-hander played as an amateur for the Antwerp Giants on its "B" team in 2014-15. He was a fixture on the Belgian Youth National Team, competing in the European Championship on the nation's U16, U18 and the U20 team. Van Vliet averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game during the 2015 European Championship, helping Belgium to its highest-ever finish in eighth place.
 
Van Vliet will be the eighth transfer to play at W&M during head coach Tony Shaver's tenure. Adam Hess (2002-04), Hawley Smith (2003-05), Adam Payton (2005-07), Sean McCurdy (2008-10), JohnMark Ludwick (2009-12) and David Cohn (2015-18) each earned their degrees from W&M after transferring into the program. Hess recently went into the W&M Athletics Hall of Fame after a long professional career in Europe. Payton played professionally in Europe after earning All-CAA honors. Both McCurdy and Ludwick were key contributors on the Tribe's 22-win and 2010 National Invitation Tournament team, and Smith was a two-year captain.
 
The Tribe roster in 2017-18 featured a pair of transfers in Cohn and Matt Milon. Cohn, who was a two-year captain after transferring from Colorado State, capped his Tribe career as the program's all-time leader in assists and earned All-CAA honors as a senior. Milon, who played his freshman season at Boston College, started 29 of 31 games in 2017-18 and averaged 13 points per game as one of the top 3-point shooters in the CAA. 
 
The Tribe returns three starters and seven total letterwinners from last season's 19-12 season that saw W&M advance to the CAA Semifinals and post double-digit CAA wins for the fifth-straight season. Rising juniors Nathan Knight (18.5), Justin Pierce (14.7) and Milon (13.0) return as double-digit scoring starters, while law student Paul Rowley is back for his final season after being the Tribe's top reserve and team captain in 2017-18.