SAN FRANCISCO – Two former University of San Francisco men's basketball players made news with professional contract signings this past week.
Matt McCarthy '19 signed to play for the Dutch club Donar and former Don Tim Derksen '16 re-signed with his club Fribourg Olympic.
McCarthy begins his pro career playing for Donar, a member of the Dutch Basketball League. It is the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands and competes in the FIBA Eurocup.
Donar has had tremendous recent success, winning three-straight league titles from 2016-18. Located in Groningen, Netherlands, Donar plays at the MartiniPlaza the largest capacity venue in the league.
Donar club officials scouted McCarthy at last year's WCC tournament and had this to say about him: "We saw him play in Las Vegas and were immediately charmed by him. He is a good rebounder and a strong finisher, both with the left and the right (hand). In addition to being a great player, he is also a good guy."
McCarthy finished his career in the green and gold second all-time with 131 games played, he was 11
th in career field goal percentage (.525), and tied for 14
th all-time with 701 rebounds. In his senior campaign he averaged career best numbers in points per game (8.7) and rebounds per contest (6.3) while serving as the first man off the bench for the Dons.
Derksen, fresh off his third professional season, had a terrific year for Fribourg Olympic. He averaged 15.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per contest while dishing out 2.4 assists per game. He led his team to a Swiss Cup Championship this past season and was named the game MVP in his club's win over the second-ranked Geneve Lions.
Derksen signed with Fribourg Olympic in February and immediately made an impact on the club. Fribourg is a member of the Swiss Basketball League and located in Fribourg, Switzerland.
At USF, Derksen played in 124 games and made 96 starts during his four year career. He graduated as the school's 13th all-time leading scorer with 1,437 career points and also ranked sixth all-time in career three-point field goal percentage at .409 (147-for-359).
