Hawaii fills point-guard
need with JC pair

From no point guard to two of them all within 48 hours.

Such are the feast-or-famine results of college basketball recruiting.

Yesterday, Hawaii officially added Deonte Tatum, a 6-foot-1 guard out of Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College to this season's roster. Tatum faxed his scholarship award papers to the basketball office yesterday.

The Rainbows are still waiting on the paperwork from Kris Groce, a 5-10 guard from Columbia Basin (Wash.) Community College. Groce verbally committed Thursday and his paperwork was expected to arrive by Monday.

"We were scrambling and we got lucky that things fell into place," said UH assistant coach Jackson Wheeler. "Tatum is a physical player and a tremendous defender. We got a steal late."

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from discussing recruits until the national letter of intent is signed or, at this late date, the institution's scholarship award letter.

Hawaii was forced to recruit late when point guard Logan Lee informed the coaching staff late last month that he was not returning for his junior year.

Tatum was rated as high as sixth nationally among junior college point guards by recruiting services. He was considered a national sleeper, but schools such as Clemson and DePaul backed off when Tatum wouldn't become academically eligible for Division I until summer school ended this month.

Tatum was a swing player in high school, leading Vincent (Milwaukee) to two state Division 1 titles. Tatum averaged 8.4 points, 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds for the IHCC Warriors (22-9).

"A lot of people might get caught up in his numbers," said Wheeler, "but he was on a team with bunch of Division-I (caliber) players and a lot of balance."

Tatum will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Groce, the Eastern Division MVP in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College, will have three years of eligibility.