Four IUP basketball players joining pro leagues

IUP was so so good at times last season, the Crimson Hawks looked like a pro team.

Maybe there was a reason.

Following one of the program’s best runs, IUP announced Monday that four recent grads have signed to play professional basketball overseas.

Forward Jacobo Diaz is joining Marín Peixegalego out of Spain; guard Dante Lombardi is headed to S.C. Luistânia in Portugal; 6-8 forward Willem Brandwijk will play for Feyenoord Basketball (Netherlands); and 6-9 Marko Krivacevic is set to become a member of Szombathely Falco (Hungary).

Diaz, IUP’s Men’s Athlete of the Year, might be the centerpiece of the group. A first-team All-American, he was the PSAC West Player of the Year and graduated second in program history with 1,747 points and 1,105 rebounds.

Lombardi joined Diaz on the PSAC West First Team as he averaged 17.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. He was the PSAC Tournament MVP and is the only player in program history with at least 1,300 points and 500 assists.

Brandwijk, a transfer from Siena, averaged 7.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and shot 57.6 percent from the field.

And Krivacevic was a key reserve after transferring from Duquesne.

IUP and well-respected coach Joe Lombardi won the PSAC Tournament and finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the nation in the NABC Coaches Poll.