Baciu to Play in Charm City Challenge

7'2" center will compete for U.S. All-Stars on Sunday in Baltimore.

Clemson basketball signee Catalin Baciu (pronounced cuh-tuh-Leen BY-choo) has been named to the U.S. All-Star roster for the 2008 Charm City Challenge, which will be held Sunday in Baltimore, MD. The 7'2" center hails from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, but has played the past two seasons in the United States at Veritas Christian Academy in Fletcher, NC.

Baciu is the second Clemson signee in as many years to play in the Charm City Challenge.

Jerai Grant, a freshman on this year's team, played in the event in 2007. The event pits All-Stars from greater Baltimore versus U.S. All-Stars, a roster made up of high school seniors, most of which are headed to play in major conferences next season. Three additional signees from ACC schools are on the two team's rosters.

Baciu, better known by the nickname 'Bobo', is the highest-rated signee in Head Coach Oliver Purnell's recruiting class ranked #25 by Scout.com. He is rated as a four-star prospect and the #46 player nationally by Scout.com. He was a finalist for both McDonald's All-America honors and North Carolina's Gatorade Player-of-the-Year award.

Baciu averaged 22.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 6.9 blocks per game as a senior for Veritas, where he established nine school records in just two years with the school. He holds the school's career record for points (1,781), rebounds (1,091), and blocks (494). He also holds single-game and single-season records for points, rebounds, and blocked shots.

He is one of three seniors to have signed with the Tigers in the fall, joining 5'9" point guard Andre Young (Albany, GA) and 6'5" guard/forward Tanner Smith (Norcross, GA).