FROM STAFF REPORTS

MONTEVALLO – Marvin Fitzgerald, a member of the University of Montevallo men’s basketball team last season, recently signed a one-year professional basketball contract with the Hebei Springs, a professional basketball organization based in the Hebei Province of China.

Fitzgerald joins three former Falcons who are currently playing professional basketball overseas.

Marcus Kennedy played for the Residence Walferdange in Luxembourg last season. Gerald January played for the Ammerud Basket in Norway, while D.J. Rivera just completed his first professional season with As De Sale in Morocco.

Hebei Province is located to the north of the Yellow River and to the east of the Taihang Mountains. The Hebei Springs roster includes 15 Chinese natives, two Americans and one Australian. Tom Burns, an Australian who played collegiately at the University of South Florida, and American Horace McGloster, who played collegiately at Southern Nazarene University, join Fitzgerald as foreign members of the team.

Fitzgerald will report to the team in late September. The Hebei Springs’ season will run from Sept. 2013-April 2014.

Fitzgerald, a Milwaukee, Wis. native, started all 30 games while helping Montevallo reach the NCAA Division II tournament during the 2012-2013 season.

Fitzgerald averaged 11.7 points per game and nine rebounds per game while also dishing out 2.1 assists per game. Fitzgerald, who shot 45.5 percent from the floor as a senior, scored a career-high 21 points against North Georgia and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds against Young Harris.

Fitzgerald appeared in 35 games, including 14 starts, as he helped the Falcons reach the NCAA Division II national championship game for the first time during his junior season. Fitzgerald averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during the 2011-2012 season.

Fitzgerald came to Montevallo after spending his freshman season at Chipola College and his sophomore season at North Carolina Central University.