Recruting Bulletin
By Jeff
Reliable sources tell Hoopstalk that guard, Deshawn Mitchell, has verbally committed to UH. Mitchell comes to UH with a great reputation as a player, but a questionable reputation as a team player.
Here are the facts as I know them. Mitchell from Newark, New Jersey, was averaging 23 points per game at Snow College in Utah when he was kicked off the team for reasons that have not been disclosed. However there is a quote on an ESPN radio web site out of Las Vegas from his coach calling him a " bad team-mate". He went to High School at Oak Hill, in Virgina, where many prominent high school players are " parked", averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds in his senior year, then went to Monmouth Academy in New Jerseyfor one year where he averaged 24 points and 8 rebounds per game. He then signed with UNLV where he averaged 1.6 points per game in 21 games. He asked to be released from UNLV and he signed with Rider College. He sat out a year and never played for Rider, landing at Snow ( a Junior College) where he played for almost two years.
He has tremendous talent, but the circumstances of his travels in basketball so far and the circumstances of his departure from Snow have left many college coaches wary of his recrutiment. Hawaii will be the third Div 1 program he has attended, after two post high school stints. Before his problems at Snow, he was allegedly being recruited by BYU and Utah , among others.
I am not making any judgements on the kid, just reporting the facts. Everyone deserves a second or third chance, and his troubles appear to be basketball related, not criminal or even academic ( although you cant discount that possible issue, he must be eligible). Perhaps with the right coach and team, his attitude towards his coach and team-mates will improve, and he will allow his talent to shine thru. We will see.
Hoops Talk
April 13th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Ohhhh Baby....
Holding my breath on this one. Not only if he signs but if he turns out to be a less than model citizen as stated above. Don't want to take more hits to the APR or give our young program a black eye.
April 13th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
According to your article, Mitchell spent one year at UNLV, one year at Rider, 2 at Snow. That's four years and is incorrect. Actually, he spent one year at UNLV, no time at Rider, and less than a year at Snow.
April 13th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
OMG not another problem , is this a Dwain Williams reincarnation????????
April 13th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Damn, they weren't kidding when they said they were going after the best available talent. If this is true I love this commitment, this kid is a pure athlete which we desperately need.
April 13th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
stop killing the kid before he gets here.
rarely, if ever, do we get this type of talent to come here. so he has baggage - welcome to mid-majorville. we wouldn't be in the conversation if he didn't. this ain't the cuse or Durahm; its honolulu.
And on another matter, with all due respect sir, you need to accept the fact that your narrow template of what you think is possible to come here is in need of an adjustment.
for the past 23 years we have had to hear the same old tired story bout how you can't get talented high school kids over here.
This year, they will have 3 highly talented highly rated kids out of L.A. coming here. Count em: 3. These three kids were playing in all-american L.A. based roundball showcase this past weekend. And now they are coming to play at the University of Hawaii.
Today - in your paper, we read about Hawaii beating out No. 8 in the nation (BYU) head to head over our next swingman. And as you allude to in this article, we are about to get the archetypal athletic wing - with high-major talent - to join up with what is already here.
and for other spots, this staff is going head to head with the likes of Butler for the final couple of spots.
I mean there is a lot going on on the recruiting front, and you decide to roll with this. Unprecedented stuff that has literally never happened before at this program, and your lead with this. With all due respect sir, maybe time to put away the axe?
April 13th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
If true hope Mitchell can turn a new leaf, otherwise Gib will not tolerate attitude problems .
April 13th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
relax Rainbow for Life. Dont shoot the messenger. I am just reporting the facts. Everybody can come to their own conclusions. I didnt even print what the Rider coaching staff had to say about him.
Also, I am all for giving him and others a second or third chance. Its the coaches and the University who have to deal with any potential issues.
I dont understand your comment about the " tired old story" about high-school players. I never said that and i dont believe it, although if you look at the history of the team, most of our successful players in recent years have been JC kids ( even this year, the strength of the team was not the freshman class).
I have consistently said and blogged that Gib has a reputaion as a really good recruiter. He is tireless and has lots of contacts. But i dont agree with you that you have to take marginal kids because the really good players who dont have issues will go to big name schools. To use your own example, look at Butler. Winning is important, i agree, but winning with kids who graduate and provide the right example to our kids and community are important as well. Players like Bill Amis and Hiram Thompson, just to mention a few of many. I can also name some talented basketball players who came here with great on-court numbers who didnt fit in or worse.
Hope that the next few days or weeks will give UH and Coach Arnold and his staff the recruits they need to continue to improve. I also hope these kids will stay, be good role models, and graduate ( if they dont go early to the NBA- wouldnt that be nice).
April 13th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Didn't Gib hint at having 6-7 guys who were interested in playing here? Maybe Deshawn is just one of those players, whom Gib is still evaluating. A verbal commitment is just that; it doesn't mean he's been tendered a letter to sign. Interesting, though.
April 13th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
Thanks Jeff for the updates! Your sources have be pretty darn reliable all season.... I do agree about some of his character issues that he may have, but we are 2nd chances University. Hopefully, if he does sign that he stays, unlike Coleman and Salter this season. I'm ready for this season, let go Bows'
April 13th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
okay...bust out the trivia contest.
when was the last time that there has been as much interest in men's basketball as this year?
April 13th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
contest, yah i'll donate a prize to the winner.
April 13th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
if mitchell is a go and i've heard this name two weeks ago as well...and if we don't get that point guard from texas. then, it is my belief that the gibber was not a fibber when he keeps reiterating that gerry blakes is the point of the future.
of course, in the same breath i've been saying that we will dish out one more scholie to go along with blakes, stevens, biggs, brereton, mitchell, and odunsi (oops!). and this package will rival the fab five if not replace them in two years and will go down as the greatest recruit class ever, in the modern jargon of our youth, they'll be dubbed the "sick six".
April 13th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
last year.
April 13th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
al,
There was significant interest in the men's basketball program during the AC Carter and Alika Smith seasons. For me, the pinnacle was the period of the Fab Five when they captured the imagination of the state. The period immediately after with Bruce O'Neill and assistant Rick Pitino was pretty good too with the likes of Tom Henderson, Reggie Carter, Jimmy Baker, Tommy Barker, etc. I remember long lines of students waiting to get their season tickets; I don't think that happens these days. But the the NCAA violations soon followed and buried the program.
April 13th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
If mitchell played two years in JC and went to UNLV and Rider how much eligibility does he have left?
April 13th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Other recruits mentioned sound much better than this prospect. I don't care how talented a guy is if he's a head-case and a selfish player. This one sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Please say it ain't so, Gib!
April 13th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Andre morgan, rod flemings, anthony salter i hope it works out!!!! Look colt, davonne,pisa had issues!!! hey jeff p a bcs school like miami fla can they get a coach?
April 14th, 2011 at 12:08 am
wasn't Joston Thomas "well-traveled" before he got here as well? he had some rough patches, but he finished the season strong. people shouldn't be so quick write guys like this off. if Gib thinks he can contribute here, that's enough for me.
April 14th, 2011 at 1:37 am
mitchell was at unlv for his freshman season.
his second year was at rider although he sat out per ncaa rules, thus this is credited as his redshirt year.
this past year, he was at snow college a jc as a sophmore.
he'll come in with two years to play.
April 14th, 2011 at 1:42 am
protector...rumor has it that he is a "head-case and a selfish player." know that the gibber would never tolerate this on his team, he is above all else the coach of strict discipline.
we saw how he would not put up with players who deviated from that mantra as they found their way to the bench real fast.
trust in the gibber.