Tuesday, April 7, 1998
Riley lands a pair
of JUCO stars
And two other standouts
By Cindy Luis
are considering signing with the
UH men's basketball team
Star-BulletinEaster is coming, but it feels more like Christmas for Riley Wallace.
The University of Hawaii men's basketball coach hoped to open his office this morning and find his recruiting process complete via national letters of intent.
UH has received verbal commitments from two players and expected to have the paperwork faxed to the school today.
Signing with Hawaii will be 6-foot-1 point guard Johnny White, the Sun Coast Conference Player of the Year out of Brevard (Fla.) Community College, and 7-1 center Terry Sellers from Compton (Calif.) College, the California Association of Community Colleges' state champion.
White, who chose Hawaii over Nebraska and LSU, averaged 17 points and six assists per game for Brevard. Sellers, who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds a game for Compton, gives the Rainbows two 7-footers on the roster for the first time ever; Bryan Moeller (7-0), who played sparingly last season, will return for his senior season.
Hawaii hopes JaQuay Walls will join Sellers, his Compton teammate, next season in a Rainbow uniform. Walls, a 6-2 point guard with Anthony Carter-like ability, was tabbed to be the heir apparent to Arizona All-American Mike Bibby, but apparently has narrowed his choices to Hawaii and Colorado.
The Rainbows also are courting Marquette Alexander, a 6-9, 260-pound power forward from San Francisco City College. The Bay Area product, who visited Hawaii last weekend, has visited Kansas State and Rhode Island, but reportedly is deciding between Hawaii and the University of San Francisco.
"We're getting two good ones, but if we can get the last two, we're going to have another good season next year," said Wallace, who hoped to share good recruiting news at tonight's team banquet. "I don't know if you could say it's our best recruiting class ever, but it could be pretty close."
In the November early signing period, Hawaii inked three players: freshman guard Mike McIntyre, sophomore forward Gary Gillman and junior guard Damon Lee.
The ESPN on-line recruiting report mentioned Arizona and Hawaii as having the top recruiting classes in the West. But that was based on Walls heading to Arizona.
Hawaii also is waiting on a decision by the NCAA that would grant forward Mike Robinson another season.
Players who recently gave Hawaii verbal commitments: Two in the fold . . .
Johnny White: 6-foot-1, guard, Brevard (Fla.) CC
Top players considering signing with UH: . . . two on hold
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
