Kris Groce and Deonte Tatum
made sudden and unexpected
moves to Hawaii
Who knew?
Who could have predicted back in July the twist that would bring Deonte Tatum and Kris Groce together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
Point manThis season's candidates at point guard:
Last year's production (per game)
Top marks under coach Riley Wallace *
* Riley Wallace has coached the Rainbows since 1987
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At the same time, Groce was home in Pasco, Wash., preparing to return to Columbia Basin College for his sophomore season. There he would try to improve on some already impressive numbers and earn a D-I shot of his own.
Suddenly, an NCAA rule is eliminated, there's an opening for a point guard at Hawaii, and in a dizzying turn of events Groce and Tatum are Rainbow Warriors by the end of the summer.
"In July I was already playing with my team and getting ready to go back to (Columbia Basin)," Groce said. "And then boom, boom, boom, I was out here. It happened so quick."
Groce and Tatum have been quick to fit themselves into the UH system and are battling for playing time in the Rainbows back court.
The 'Bows were in desperate need of a point guard after Jason Carter completed his eligibility in March and Logan Lee, their assist leader with 120 last season, informed UH coaches in July that he wouldn't return for his junior year.
Fortunately for UH, an NCAA rule that limited the number of players a program could recruit (five in a single year and eight over a two-year span) had recently been lifted, otherwise the 'Bows would have been left with a hole in the roster.
"(Lee's departure) could have been devastating because of the old rule," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We would not have filled those and ended up with only nine players on scholarship with no other guards. That could have really, really hurt us."
Instead the coaches were free to do some 11th hour recruiting and happened to hear from fellow coaches about two point guards who might be interested in playing at Hawaii.
"It's all networking and knowing people," said associate coach Jackson Wheeler, UH's primary recruiter. "In that situation it was kind of weird how it spread so fast, everybody knew Logan was leaving. But it worked out, we're fine and both of them together offer different things."
Kris Groce averaged 21.4 points and 7.2 assists as a freshman at Columbia Basin College.
Tatum (6-3, 165) is the bigger of the duo, is a tough defender and has kept busy studying tape to digest the Rainbows' patterns. Groce (5-10, 140) isn't imposing physically, but can provide a spark with his quickness. He also has a pure stroke from the perimeter.
Tatum, a junior, posted 8.4 points and 4.8 assists per game at Indian Hills last season. Groce thrived in Columbia Basin's free-flowing offense as a freshman, averaging 21.4 points and 7.2 assists.
The connections between the two don't stop with their positions and the circumstances that brought them to Hawaii.
"He's similar to me," Tatum said. "Cool, laid back, take it easy. We get along good. On the floor, off the floor, he's laid back, tells you what he thinks, like me. That's why I like him."
Although they're playing the same position, there's little venom in the competition for court time. Instead their respect for each other's game is just another thing they share.
"I'm going to support him and I'm pretty sure he's going to support me," Tatum said. "We both want to play and we're both going to play."
