DRC article on Hines others

[OldTimer]

UNT signee named top JUCO player

01:15 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 2, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

A detour through the junior college ranks paid off for Isaac Hines in impressive fashion earlier this month.

The North Texas men’s basketball signee committed to Lamar University out of Dallas Molina High School before transferring to Collin County Community College for what turned out to be two of the best seasons of his career.

Hines was recently recognized for his play in the junior college ranks when the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches named him the Texas Junior College Player of the Year. The organization has long recognized the top players and coaches in the state and added a junior college section to its slate of awards this year.

“It’s a big honor for me,” Hines said. “I developed a lot at Collin. The coaches there all have experience at the Division I level and helped me improve.”

Hines led Collin County to a No. 2 national ranking at the end of the regular season and was named the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Year. The Express’ starting point guard averaged 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.4 steals a game as a sophomore.

Hines was also a second-team NJCAA All-American.

Texas has a reputation for being a hotbed for junior college basketball. The state’s top programs have produced NBA stars such at Spud Webb and Mookie Blaylock (Midland College), Larry Johnson (Odessa College) and Sam Cassell and Steve Francis (San Jacinto).

“It’s a big honor for Isaac to be picked when you talk about the number of junior colleges and players in the state,” UNT coach Johnny Jones said. “It’s unbelievable for us to get a player of that caliber.”

Hines originally planed on playing for Lamar, but saw his career take a turn when he broke his wrist the first day of official practices during his freshman year. Hines sat out the season and decided to start fresh at a new school.

Transferring to another Division I school would have forced Hines to sit out another year, so he decided to go to a junior college.

The decision paid off when Hines developed into one of the top junior college guards in the country.

“Isaac is a winner and does so many things on the court that do not show up on the stat sheet,” Collin County coach Jim Sigona said. “He is a true point guard and those guys are hard to find.”

Hines said he received numerous scholarship offers during his sophomore year at Collin County, but decided to stay close to home at UNT. Hines is finishing up his two-year degree and working out to prepare for his first season at UNT.

“I am ready to go,” Hines said. “I am playing my best basketball right now.”

Davis transferring to UNT

Former University of Arkansas guard Kendrick Davis said he is in the process of transferring to UNT.

The former Sugar Land Clements standout spent two years at Arkansas and will have two years of eligibility remaining after he sits out a season to fulfill NCAA transfer rules.

“I felt like Arkansas was not a good fit for me,” Davis said. “I liked the coaching staff, players, the city and North Texas as a whole.”

Davis averaged 10.3 points a game as a freshman at Arkansas and was the team’s third-leading scorer. He averaged 5.4 points last season.

Davis could help fill the void that will be left at shooting guard after Leonard Hopkins completes his career next season. Hopkins averaged 14.0 points a game to lead the team during the 2003-04 campaign and was a second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.

The addition of Davis will give UNT’s coaches a jump on building its recruiting class for the 2005-06 season.

UNT recently completed its incoming recruiting class that included three junior college players and two high school standouts. The Mean Green signed Hines, Eastern Oklahoma State College center Jeffrey Simpson and Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College power forward Chris White.

UNT also added Michael Sturns, a guard from North Crowley High, and Quincy Williams, a forward from Carl Albert High in Midwest City, Okla.

The Mean Green are coming off of a 13-15 season in 2003-04. UNT lost to New Orleans in double overtime during the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com