Former Ranney star Bryan Antoine transfers to Radford, spurning Monmouth

It was inside OceanFirst Bank Center on Monmouth University’s West Long Branch campus that Bryan Antoine and his Ranney School teammates won back-to-back Shore Conference Tournament titles.

There was some serious thought that Antoine would return to that scene to finish his college career at Monmouth University. 

It's not happening. 

Antoine, a former 5-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, is headed to Radford for his fourth year, his AAU coach Brian Klatsky announced Thursday.  

The Matawan native is transferring from Villanova, where he struggled through three injury-plagued seasons. The 6-5 guard will seek to hit the reset button on his career at the Virginia college, which is a member of the Big South Conference. 

Antoine, who scored a Shore Conference-record 2,514 career points at Ranney, entered the NCAA transfer portal in the wake of Villanova head coach Jay Wright announcing his retirement, replaced by Kyle Neptune.

With two years of eligibility remaining, Antoine, who had shoulder surgery and a knee injury as part of a series of physical setbacks, played 46 games over three seasons for the Wildcats, with no starts. He averaged 1.5 points-per-game, averaging 8.8 minutes. The 20 games he played last season was a career high.

There will be questions about why a former five-star recruit didn't move to another high-major or prominent mid-major program. 

For Antoine, this is an opportunity to step into a feature role, where the game plan will revolve around his talents. He's making the most of the time he has left.