Saturday, Jun. 06, 2009

Two state prep stars will play for SWIC

Harrington happy with new recruits

BELLEVILLE -- The rising talent pool of the Southwestern Illinois College men's basketball program has suddenly become much deeper.

Less than a month after signing former Georgia high school Class 3A Player of the Year Walter Hill, Blue Storm coach Jay Harrington announced this week that Isiah Nunn from Moline and Aaron Nelson from Chicago Heights have signed to play at SWIC this fall.

Nunn, an all-state selection his senior year at Moline High, is a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward, while the 6-8, 250-pound Nelson averaged 20 points and 11 points this past season for Bloom High in Chicago Heights.

"We think we've got two very good players in these two young men,'' Harrington said. "In addition, they're both great kids. They're the type of kids you love having in your basketball program.''

Nunn, an '08 graduate of Moline, played a year ago at Patterson Prep School in Lenoir, N.C. Nunn has committed to play at Wisconsin.

"Isiah is a (NCAA Division I), qualifier so there is a good chance he'll only be here one year. The kid is just a tremendous athlete,'' Harrington said. "He's more of a scorer than he is a shooter, and in a way he reminds me of Devron (Bostick). He's not the perimeter shooter that Devron is, but he may be a better athlete.''

Bostick was the NJCAA Division I Player of the Year during the 2007-08 season and will be a senior at Minnesota.

In the 6-8, 260-pound Nelson, SWIC landed one of the top junior-college recruits in the nation. Most of the top JUCO programs in the nation had Nelson high on their recruiting lists.

"All the big boys were after Aaron. The credit goes to (SWIC) assistant coach (Steve) Campo for landing him,'' Harrington said. "The kid is just a very talented player. He runs the floor well, rebounds and can step out and shoot the 3 (point shot). We were just very fortunate to get him.''

Unlike most of the new SWIC recruits, Nelson will not attend summer school. Instead, Nelson has been invited to try out for the Team USA 18-and-under team in Colorado Springs.