Mount SAC guards still thinking about Hawai’i
The pair of championship guards from Mount San Antonio College are not quite ready to choose a Division I program yet, but Hawai’i is certainly in the running.
Corey Allen and Garrett Nevels made their official visit to Hawai’i last week, and both players said they were impressed enough to keep the Warriors high on their respective lists.
“Hawai’i is definitely one of my top choices right now,” Allen said.
Nevels said: “I’m really glad I got to see what Hawai’i is all about. It was a great trip.”
Both players have another visit coming up this week. Allen will be making an official visit to South Florida. He visited UTEP prior to his Hawai’i trip, and said he has no other official visits scheduled after South Florida.
Nevels
Allen
Nevels will be making an official visit to Morehead State, and he said that is the only other visit he has scheduled so far.
Hawai’i is the only program recruiting Allen and Nevels together, although both players said they are deciding independently.
“We’re both trying to figure out the best situation for each of us,” Allen said. “But, yeah, we talk about us playing together on the D-1 level – maybe becoming Warriors together. But we both have a lot to think about.”
Interestingly enough, both Allen and Nevels said it was “the family atmosphere” that stood out from their trip to Hawai’i.
“Everybody really shows love out there and you can see how everybody is part of the family out there,” Nevels said.
Allen added: “The people … it’s like a tight family over there.”
In addition to the standard Waikiki Beach stop, the duo also had the unique opportunity of attending the team’s awards banquet last week. They also participated in a brief open gym session with the current Hawai’i players.
“I was really impressed with their bigs,” Allen said. “With those bigs, that could be a Top 25 team.”
Allen (6-foot point guard) and Nevels (6-2 shooting guard) were the starting backcourt and leading scorers for the Mount SAC team that won the 2013 California Community College Athletic Association championship.
“Even if it wasn’t on the D-1 level, I feel like I can still bring what we know about winning to any team and help cut down nets,” Allen said.
Great update.
If Hawaii can sway Nevels to sign, there might be a chance to get Allen through a package deal. I wouldn’t mind seeing both of these guys in green and white for next year. They both have a legit shot at significant playing time and will immediately upgrade our overall talent level to be able to compete with Big West guards. At least for Nevels, he’ll be able to visit home every other weekend in conference play.
Quincy Smith (coming in for a visit this weekend) is another recruit to look out for. Previous reports indicate he is a very good ball-handler and a heady defender. I was also really impressed with his quickness in his La Jolla prep video. Hopefully we will get some uplifting news in the upcoming weeks.
DK,
I agree with you. Nevels/Allen or Smith would be great additions. Shore up the PG/SG situation. More athleticism, JC guys a little older. Have to see what Qunicy Smith thinks about his visit. He might have been on the same La Jolla Prep team with Aaron Valdes, so there is that connection!
We have to see how things play out this finish of May UH semester, what movement if any happens. Would be incredible, and good, if all guys, including returnees are here, alongside 1 or 2 new JC guards. Maybe some creative, academic, finacial aid or grant assistance for grad student?
If Gib can land 1 or 2 of the scoring, great attitude PG/SG/COMBO, the team will be much improved.
Go UH MBB team!
The more I learn about these guys, the more I like them. Allen is a big time scorer, can shoot free throws, rebound and assist. Doesn’t really shoot the 3 and can be turnover prone though (season high for turnovers was 10!). Nevels is also a big time scorer, shoots the ball well, can shoot the 3, and also has an all around game. Both very athletic and have rebounded in double digits at times, which is fairly impressive given their size. I believe they are a perfect fit for the Big West, a conference where athletic point guards really shine. No doubt, we would win the Big West w/these two. Although our conference record doesn’t show it, but the games we lost were due to getting burned by faster, athletic guards. With Shamburger eligible next year, Spearman healthy, and a couple of hot recruits (i.e., Nevels/Allen) I can see us shutting down the perimiter AND banging for the advantage on the boards (doesn’t hurt to get some rebounding assistance from the 1’s and 2’s!)
Will try to curb my enthusiasm for these guys, at least until they make the (right) decision. Now, time to look into Quincy Adams a bit…
Dayton: Excellent follow-up report, it provides a much needed encouragement for the transfering of ” The Mounty Dynamic-Duo” to Hawaii!
Coach Beeman: Congrats to the creditable 1st-year achievement for our Wahine BB. You brought with you that Mighty Mounty Magic!
Please explain to Nevels & Allen that what doing basketball in Hawaii is all about? Do not miss a opportunity for a life-time of successes?
Hey Nevels & Allen: Hope you serious enough about Hawaii that you have had acquainted with Dayton’s WI forum, where good MBB prospers!
And, that you have not missed Eagle’s succiinct outline of “The life as a MBB Warrior”!?
Hawaiian fans admire your collective talents!
Way to go, Dayton
Ideally we would be their ‘Final’ Visit
BUT Thanks to Your Highlights (Mahalo also to the Schmidts!)
Clearly the BB Banquet is a Great Opportunity
For THEM To Understand One of The Hawai’i Advantages
IS That U.H. is THE Big Dog in Town, NCAA & “PRO”
As in Closest we got to a Pro Team and
One of the Best Places for Setting Up Their Future Pro Careers after Basketball
Hope GIB, Players and Families are able to Work the Math so we can retain the Maximum Number of Current Players …
They Are quite likable And i think have enough talent and work ethic so they CAN Get their games UP TO Winning D-1 Levels, maybe Upper Levels…
Just like some of The Subs on The Final Four Teams….
Congrats to Former UH Coach Rick Pitino
Although it shows some age, We’ve had our share of heated discussions
“The way you’re writing this makes it sound like my whole staff disagrees with me,
and i don’t know what i’m doin'”
“Coach, I think it shows you have a talented staff, great ideas coming from everyone, and doesn’t undercut you one bit…”
(Assistants Al Menendez and Pete Gillen later went on, along with Pitino, to become D-1 Head Coaches, one of the Best Staffs ever)…’besides i don’t tell you how to coach, you don’t tell me how to write, but i will look at it again…”
(That UH Game Guide later was voted No. 2 in the nation, Pitino keeps showin’ up where Winning Happens…)
Q: WHO WAS the third assistant coach?
I believe we only have a chance at 1 of the 2….we already have 2 starters and signing 2 more guards, 1 will get garbage minutes and mosty likely scenario is quincy smith verbals and scares away both nevels and allen
Hawaiifan09, what are your views on these players? Garbage time? If they are good, they will not see garbage time that’s for sure. They look good, but it seems like they weren’t playing against a lot of size and notably size w/ athleticism. Despite that, I hope we can get them. Sham is a proven player but our guard play needs to improve. I was an immediate fan of Manroop due to his shooting range and his moxey playing suleiman. But he has not gotten stronger, which is one factor keeping him on the bench. Garrett J plays awesome D but offense is severely lacking, any of the three prospective guards will be shot in the arm. That Quincy smith kid has got some electricity. But college ball has a way of humbling kids. Hopefully everything works out for UH BBall. Lets get it started again. NCAA’s!!!! No more CIT!
The majority of the good teams in the NCAA tournament had good guards playing for them. Having guards that can play the big games is an understatement. Let’s hope UH can be one of those teams with good guards.
Hey Playhoopsa – wake-up, wake-up! You must be dreaming – UHMBB will not win the BWC; dreams of NCAA’s or even NIT’s are just that – dreams! Besides having “Character” – which no-one has defined yet; you must have 3 other C’s = Chemistry, Commitment and Coaching (not just recruiting).
If you bring in all these point guards or shooting guards – someone will have to sit = you can only “play hoops” with 5 players. Therefore, somebody won’t be playing or will be playing limited minutes; and these guys are coming to play now. There has to be some kind of Commitment that they will play or guess what – you will have unhappy players, whom in turn become dissatisfied and brings out the bad character in them and then they become . . . . guys with “Character” problems.
D1 basketball is big business and if you can’t keep the 3 C’s together; you got problems. All relations start out fun – then you have fun with problems – suddenly you are just left with problems! I’ve got good news and bad news – the good news is that UH may “recruit” great players – the bad news is that . . . . it’s going to take a long time to build a program of Chemistry, Commitment and good game-situation Coaching! Mahalo = have a great summer and keep your eye on the ball!
Well hopefully if we can get the two to committ , we will be closer to getting the title instead of settling for mediocrity. This will be the season that gib will have to show considerable improvement.
maybe we should have a wahine bb insider Again is anyone leaving the GIB ship this year? Should anyone leave this cruise ship? AS mike singletary said we need winners and players
They “Look” like (on video) that IF they donʻt start (although Gib has already demonstrated the Willingness to Give First-Year players starting shots) that they could still play 15 – 20 minutes plus in any game theyʻre performing effectively…
ALL Three potential recruits have decent (for a starting point, ought to improve just like Gee & Jace, etc.) shooting percentages against good competition; Gib should have already determined an aptitude or ability to learn/improve defensive skills, and current coaches claim they already play strong with the ball, so should have physical strength available to play strong against the ball. The key to the Open Court play with/against the team is to have all current players and coaches agree that these guys Can Fit in AND Help improve this team (or else the scholarship offers will not be extended similar to several recruits/visits last year, even those with outstanding or outrageous numbers).
GIB should not even be ʻTrippingʻ Them IF he isnʻt sure they can help IMPROVE the team…
(He Cannot be Aiming for Another 16-16 or 17-15 Team)
Positions are Precious especially in The Limited ʻShowʻ Time to Prove Success…
IF we sign either point we should be solid two-deep at every position….
Dallan — Even IF they Lose or Jettison one to three players, counting redshirts (Christian, Jawato and Jace did pretty good as first year playing after redshirting, even after walking on) the team ʻshould have 8-11 ʻReturningʻ Players which is WAY MORE than ONLY injured Vander, Hauns, Gee & Davis last year having UH playimg experience…
Chemistry which Requires PT together (even if they sport names like Lebron-Wade-Bosch or Kobe-Gasol-Nash-Dwight Howard) should be significantly improved and team knowledge and execution at a Way Higher Level with such “Unprecedented” Returning Numbers … Previous Administrations could generally only sport 7-9 returnees due to the High Transfer and JC DEPENDENCE… Assuming Returnee Improvement (which IS the general trend) These numbers alone are a marked improvement …Previous ʻProgramsʻ Could NOT Afford to redshirt players as talented as Valdes and Dressler…
AGREE that this coaching staff Displays ʻGrowing Painsʻ and Signs of Being Out-Coached (Back-to-Back Weak Season Finishes)… i think All the Winning Coaches like Riley & Rick Pitino (after he left UH) Improved over their Careers…
SO Letʻs See Improvement in The Big West Standings (i noted Most BW Teams with significant numbers of returnees, even with previous losing records, improved their Conference Finish year over year). Even in this First Year Tour of the Conference, Hawaiʻi spent Most of the Season Above Coachesʻ and Media Pre-Season Projections …
With the Returning Quality Talent AND Experience, I Would Expect Coaches/Media to Project Hawaiʻi in The Top Three in Conference (with opportunity to Surpass that Projection). Even with a Weak Finish This Year, Hawaiʻi was only two or three games out of third or second place.
I don’t know why so much people think these 2 guards will get us where we want to be
BECAUSE:
– Theyʻve Already WON A National Championship (There are as many JCs in California as the rest of the country; the CAL JC Championship IS Consudered a National Championship) — THIS Has much similarity to Brandon Spearman — IF we had 2 or 3 Spearman class guards we probably wouldʻve won a few more games. {and Quincy helped lead his team to 31 Straight Wins)
– They are or were reportedly being recruited by solid prugrams
– Apparently Coaches have evaluated them to be AS or More Valuable than Departing, perhaps even Returning Players
The General Rule of Thumb for JC Signees is that they should be able to immediately Challenge for PT or even start
(i think G was a disappointment although he did have a game winning shot and probably neutralized several opposition scorers)
– The TWO Guard positions ARE our most glaring weakness — when you shore up a Puka, you potentially cause the greatest improvement — like replacing a missing or faulty link with a reinforced strength link — the whole chain ʻcan beʻ stronger…
— Itʻs more fun to be optimistic — donʻt see much harm — a little heartbreak but most teams end their season that way anyway … Without a Dream You Canʻt Have a Dream Come True…
— PROVEN Repeatedly especially in Human High Performance — Higher Goals, Expectations and Optimism Yield Higher Results (than Low Expectations, Cynicism or Pessimism — NO Great Deed was ever Accomplished by a Pessimist or Defeatist) [For me that is WHY i like sports — immediate and long-term feedack..]
hawaiifan09 :
Well HF09, Gib never said they are Tom Henderson, AC Carter, Chris Paul, Tony Parker. He is getting players here who have JC experience, come from winning programs, have quickness, athleticisim, can create their own shots, and are quite fearless. All of the, ,even if it is JC ball, when you are playing for Championship game, or made it to 31-0 before that game, that is credit to JC coaches and team.
Allen, Nevels and Smith fit that description , they are wiry strong guys. I think open gym must have went okay, if Allen, cancelled his Pitt visit, maybe he was invited as a walkon, or Nevels, cancelling South Florida. Maybe as some have said, the offers, to play immediately is not there.
South Florida has very athletic teams, their guards are great. Pitt, Jamie Dixon has some horses running in the Big East, Allen would be a pony in the stable. Smith wanted to visiti North Texas after this. KEY for these 3 young men, do they like Coach and Staff, The Girls, The Weather, The School, The Beaches/Weather, and finally, how did they bond, at it is very important to them and their families, how did Nevels and Allen bond with UH MBB team.
Maybe , after this week, Nevels or Allen, or maybe both, committ, same with Q Smith, he might love it here, cancel his visit to North Texas and verbal committ on the spot, on April 17th , wouldn’t it be something if Gib signed 3 of those guys, instant help for the guard line, and BWC titile contender!! 😀
After watching a ton of NCAA tournament games and a lot of basketball teams one thing is clear.
UH basketball is light years away from being even close to being respectable. The most glaring areas are speed, quickness, defense, and coaching. The talent in the NCAA tournament is obvious, but you won’t see NBA players on Butler, Florida Gulf Coast, Pacific, Villanova, etc., etc. etc. Yet, these players are good players and they play for very, very, good coaches. Tournament teams all play very good defense, very sound on fundamentals and ball movement. Until our team improves in those areas mentioned, we will be mirred in the depths of mediocrity in the Big West. And that’s too bad because I want to see our team to be exciting, and a complete team that is consistently winning basketball games. We have made it to the NCAA tournament 4 times and have lost in the first round all 4 times. It is what it is. We just keep dreaming!
Dallan is correct on one thing. Chemistry. We didn’t have the best chemistry on the team this past season. We didn’t have the right pieces. Tavita tried to be a good leader, but he just wasn’t enough of a threat offensively. AS the point guard with the ball in his hands a lot, he’s got to average at least 10 points per game to be truly effective. Even little Jerome Freeman scored double digits scoring. There were too many ups and downs, bad games, high games, etc. Hauns had a terrible shooting slump, Vander would disappear in some games, Christian too, Fotu too, Spearman too. And that was the man flaw in the team. They were very inconsistent.
Funny, a recruiting battle between Floyd and Gib… As Gib was working under Floyd at USC. Gib was the main recruiter under Floyd so I actually think Gib has the upper-hand on the SAC boys.
South Florida is interesting, head coach Stan Heath is nothing to write home about. The campus is in Tampa, which isn’t a major draw. The only real reason to go to USF is to play in the Big East, but the Big East is changing and is seriously weakened with conference realignment. So that angle isn’t as good any more.
I think UH is the favorite to land both Allen and Nevels. Sorry to any El Paso residents, but El Paso is a hell-hole
If they aren’t sold on UH by now…then forget it; they ain’t coming. All too familiar, “keep them hanging.”
NEXT!!
The earliest recruits can sign in the spring is April 17, next Wednesday. Allen & Nevels said they would make their other visits before deciding what is the best fit for their situation. I think they are being honest and I also think Hawaii is still in the mix. Remember, the Rainbow Wahine got 3 players from the Mt. SAC undefeated team. That can’t hurt. The one or two players from the men’s Mt. SAC team to Hawaii, to me, is better then average.
For what it’s worth, Vander’s team at the Portsmouth Invitational lost, 91-67, today. Vander had eight points (4 for 11), seven rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 26 minutes.
There’s no way Vander is going to play in the NBA. He will play overseas and we will not hear about him again.
Who’s Vander?