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Hawaii’s JUCO recruits ranked No. 7

The Hawaii basketball team apparently fared pretty well during the recent recruiting period, and that’s without counting the touted high school recruits.

The website JucoRecruiting.com recently ranked Hawaii No. 7 in the country for the 2011 recruiting class of junior college players. The Warriors signed two junior college players – Hauns Brereton from Western Nebraska, and DeShawn Mitchell from Snow College (Utah).

“I don’t think it’s a surprise to see (Hawaii) on the list,” said Brad Winton, who compiled the rankings for JucoRecruiting.com. “Certain years, programs feel the need to add depth and maturity from the JUCO ranks, and Hawaii did a nice job of that this year.”

The teams ranked ahead of Hawaii are St. John’s, Oklahoma, Southern Mississippi, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Marshall.

Winton also compiled a list of the top 100 recruits in the junior college ranks, and both Brereton and Mitchell were among the top 50. Brereton, a 6-foot-7 forward, is No. 30; Mitchell, a 6-5 wing, is No. 43.

“Obviously these are just projections, but I factor in size, strength, foot speed and ability to defend along with numerous other categories,” Winton said. “After looking at the player rankings, I then formulate the team rankings. Team rankings are based off of what schools did the best to fill positions in need.”

Winton said he likes that both Brereton and Mitchell can play multiple positions, and that both have previous NCAA Division I experience (Brereton at Northern Colorado and Mitchell at UNLV).

Winton said of Brereton: “I think it was an excellent pick up for them getting Hauns Brereton. BYU would be very tough to recruit against after the season they had along with the national exposure they received. The Hawaii staff did an excellent job. He is a player with the ability to play multiple positions on both ends of the floor.”

And of Mitchell: “DeShawn Mitchell is a risk worth taking in my opinion. There are so many players across the country that either get into some trouble or have disagreements with their coaching staff throughout the year at the high school and junior college levels. Some are suspended and some aren’t. I don’t think one incident should make or break a player’s career. Although his stats weren’t great at UNLV, he has still experienced that level for a full season. He can really score the ball and is very strong and athletic getting to the rim. He will have to knock down open jumpers consistently so teams don’t back off of him, but overall he has a nice upside.”

Winton’s team rankings were based purely on junior college recruits. Hawaii also signed four high school recruits for next season: guard/forward Dillon Biggs, combo guard Gerry Blakes, forward Ronnie Stevens and point guard Shaquille Stokes.

3 Comments

  1. NICE

  2. Good to know we have some quality recruits coming in.Would interesting to know where our high school recruits are rated.

  3. Great news!! Let’s see how the blend in with team… Looks good on paper right now, we’ll see when the lights are turn on?!?!

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