Nearing the end of his four-year stay at Quinnipiac, C.J. Vick was faced with a difficult decision.

The 6-foot-9 forward/center knew that he would never again sport a Bobcat uniform, and that he would never again have the pleasure of playing against familiar NEC foes Sacred Heart, Farleigh Dickinson, and Central Connecticut State. He knew he would never again be treated to the electric uproars of the Bobcat faithful after every shot he sent to the bleachers, every play he finished, and every rim-rattling dunk he threw down.

It came down to two choices for Vick. He could either settle for a job in his home state of Virginia or search for new opportunities to continue to pursue his basketball career.

Vick did not recoil. In the end, he got what he hoped to accomplish.

On Aug. 12, the former Bobcat inked a pro deal with Sangalhos Desporto Clube in the Portuguese Pro Liga, Portugal’s professional basketball league. This makes Vick the second Bobcat in two years to take his game to the professional level. In 2004, ex-Bobcat Rashaun Banjo signed a pro contract to play in Luxembourg.

Vick, who left for Portugal earlier this month, becomes the fifth player in the program’s history to sign a professional deal since the Bobcats were brought up to the Division I level.

A native of Springfield, Va., Vick starred at Notre Dame Academy (Worcester, Mass.) after establishing himself as the top shot-blocker in the state of Virginia his senior year of high school.

A highly sought after player on the recruiting market, Vick came to QU in the fall of 2001.

He quickly found his niche as a shot-blocking post player. As a freshman, Vick led the Bobcats in blocked shots and shot over .500 from the field.

His sophomore and junior seasons, the 2005 alumnus was plunged into a much more prominent role.

As a sophomore, Vick was the Bobcats’ leading shot-blocker, second-leading rebounder, and provided another scoring option to complement then-players Kason Mims, Jeremy Bishop, the aforementioned Banjo, and Rob Monroe, last year’s standout point guard. During his junior season, Vick averaged 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and collected a number of triple-doubles while emerging as one of the NEC’s top shot-blockers.

This past season, Vick was a mainstay in the paint who helped guide the ‘Cats to a berth in the NEC tournament, where they fell to in-state rivals Central Connecticut. Vick, who was most notable during the big games, shot an NEC-leading .649 from the floor.