Video credit: MUTV Sports
Former Marquette guard Vander Blue signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The deal does not guarantee Blue a spot on the team’s final roster, but he will be invited to the 76ers’ training camp, which opens Saturday, Sept. 28.
Blue was not selected in June’s 2013 NBA Draft, after announcing in April that he would forgo his senior season to go pro. However, the six-foot-four guard impressed scouts in the NBA Summer League, playing with the Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies. In a combined eight games in Orlando and Las Vegas, Blue averaged just over 11 points and four rebounds per game on about 38 percent shooting, including one 24 point, three rebound performance for the Grizzlies.
If Blue does end up on the 76ers’ final roster, he will be the seventh Marquette player from the Buzz Williams era to make it to the NBA. He would join former teammates Trent Lockett, Jae Crowder, Dwight Buycks and Jimmy Butler, as well as Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews in the Association.
During his final season at Marquette, Blue averaged 14.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and shot at a 45.4 percent clip.
