DIVISION II REPORT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chaminade's Leon Ballard, who fought for the ball against Virginia in the Maui Invitational last month, has helped open a recruiting pipeline to San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif.
Even though Alan Thomas graduated from Hawaii-Hilo two years ago, the battles between he and Chaminade's Leon Ballard still rage on. Hawaii’s recruiting wars
By Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comAnd they may continue for long after Thomas and Ballard are gone.
Thomas and Ballard are credited with opening communications between their junior colleges and their eventual Division II homes. Hilo currently has two players from Thomas' area -- Los Angeles -- while the Silverswords feature three -- not including Ballard -- from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif.
Hilo brought in Ryan Abrahams from Los Angeles Valley College and Osadonor Esene from Los Angeles City College to keep the pipeline flowing. It didn't hurt that Hawaii-Hilo coach Jeff Law served as L.A. City's associate head coach between stints at Hawaii-Manoa.
"That is my old stomping grounds," Law said. "If there is anybody I am interested in, they trust me and believe in me. It is a mutual respect that has built up over the years."
That mutual respect allowed Law to land Abrahams, a junior guard who was named to the all-tournament team of Hilo's Division I tournament earlier this year. Abrahams was being pursued by D-I schools such as Colorado, but needed too many classes to catch up to D-I standards. That, along with a yearning to find a place where he could concentrate on his game and schoolwork made Hilo the place for him. And he wouldn't have ever known Hilo existed without Law's extensive contacts in the area and trust of those contacts.
"He (Law) only saw me play once," Abrahams said. "I had never heard of Hilo before, but after every practice my assistant coach would talk to me about Coach Law and the great time Allan Thomas had there. It kind of made me interested and when Coach Law sent for me on a visit I knew it would be good for me.
"Hilo is a lot different (from Los Angeles), but it allows me to focus on my game."
Chaminade has made full use of its contacts at San Joaquin Delta, bringing Byron Sykes and Michael Ross in from the school to join seniors Kashif Reyes and Ballard. They also have a pair of players -- Mike Donegan and Rashaw McAfee -- from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif. Hilo's secondary school seems to be Northern State in South Dakota, where seniors Brady Hyde and David LaQua came from.
But Chaminade coach Aaron Griess and Law agree that being tapped into the pipeline is useless if the well runs dry. That's why they haven't cultivated these connections by chance.
"I like what Brian Katz does with his program up there," Griess said. "It is a strong one and I like how he prepares his guys. Leon Ballard fits right in. It just built from there. We want to maintain a relationship with good programs that will send us guys who are uncomfortable with losing."
Law has been earning respect on the West Coast since 1998, and that certainly helps him lock down areas that seem to be off-limits to any other Division II coach. And he is just getting started.
Ken Wagner of Brigham Young-Hawaii has been in the recruiting game for more than 20 years now, and although Russell Dung is new to the coach's job at Hawaii Pacific, he has former coach Tony Sellitto's contacts to lean on. Sellitto retired last year after 14 years at Hawaii Pacific and a lifetime in the business. Neither of the old-school guys rely so heavily on one area, opting to go for the best available players anywhere they can be found.
"I think with BYU and the Mormon church, we get them from all over the West," Wagner said. "We don't have one area per se; when you've coached over 20 years you build up a lot of contacts from everywhere."
Dung says that that edge can allow a program to be more selective with talent, although sometimes word of mouth is unavoidable. The more successful -- and happy -- players your system turns out, the more players want to come. Marvin Noble followed Nate Block to HPU, while Nic Walters followed Nick Spajic and into a Sea Warriors' uniform.
"It is important, it leads to getting players to come back," Griess said. "But we, and all coaches, I think, want kids to be happy. We don't go to any extra lengths to please junior college coaches, though."
UH-Hilo Athletics
Chaminade Sports
