Lobos go big again, add Swede Forsling
The 6-foot-11 prep signee announces on social media that he’ll play at UNM
The Lobos got bigger on Sunday. Sebastian Forsling, a 6-foot-11 prep signee from Gothenburg, Sweden, who has international experience playing for the Swedish junior national team, announced on social media on Sunday morning he would be joining the UNM Lobo men’s basketball team for the upcoming season.
“I am excited to announce that I am committing to the university of New Mexico!” he wrote on his Twitter page. “Many thanks to (past coaches) coach Michael Bree, coach Steve Lowry, coach Chuck Alston! Thanks to Coach Pitino and the whole coaching staff at New Mexico for making my dream come true! Go lobos!”
In addition to his international experience for the junior national teams in Sweden, Forsling has trained at and played for the RIG Mark Academy in Sweden, which is a multi-sports academy that has regularly placed top prospects in college programs
in the Unites States in recent years.
The Lobos could certainly use the added size on the court, but this also means they’ve grown too big in terms of roster size.
Forsling brings to 14 the number of scholarships committed at the moment for the 2021-22 season and the NCAA allows just 13.
New head coach Richard Pitino, while acknowledging in a May 5 interview the roster was “full” after a flurry of additions early last week, never has denied the current state of college athletics recruiting is a non-stop cycle and roster additions and subtractions are now common for many college basketball programs well into the summer.
For the Lobos, there are now eight new additions as part of the 2021 recruiting class and currently six scholarships committed for players from the 2020-21 season. Senior wing Makuach Maluach hasn’t made a final decision about whether he will return or move on, but his scholarship would not count toward the 13-scholarship limit as the NCAA has ruled any senior who utilizes the extra season of eligibility after playing through the COVID-hampered 2020-21 season will not count against a team’s limit.
The Lobos’ flurry of recent additions include now five new players since April 29 — a span of 10 days from the announcement of junior college forward Jay Allen-Tovar to Sunday’s Florsing news.
The current Lobos roster, for now, looks like this:
RETURNING (6* scholarships):
G Jeremiah Francis III, 6-1 G Javonte Johnson, 6-6 G Eloy Medina, 6-3 (walk-on) G Clay Patterson, 6-1 (walk-on) G Saquan Singleton, 6-6 G/F Emmanuel Kuac, 6-7 *G/F Makuach Maluach, 6-5 (won’t count toward scholarship limit if chooses to return) F Jordan Arroyo, 6-7 (walk-on) F Rod Brown, 6-8 F/C Valdir Manuel, 6-10
NEWCOMERS (8 scholarships):
F Jay Allen-Tovar, 6-9, transfer from Salt Lake Community College
C Sebastian Forsling, 6-11, Gothenburg, Sweden
G Jaelen House, 6-1, transfer from Arizona State
G K.J. Jenkins, 6-2, transfer from Kilgore College (Texas)
G/F Jamel King, 6-7, Bella Vista Prep (Scottsdale)
G Jamal Mashburn Jr., 6-2, transfer from Minnesota
F Gethro Muscadin, 6-10, transfer from Kansas
G Taryn Todd, 6-5, transfer from TCU