Hofstra’s on-court slump hasn’t extended into recruiting.
The Pride have excelled there since Joe Mihalich came to Long Island from Niagara in the offseason.
That continued last week when Queens product and junior college standout Malik Nichols picked the CAA program, committing to Hofstra four years after he initially pledged there.
The versatile 6-foot-6 forward committed to Hofstra at the start of his senior year, back in 2010, yet he didn’t qualify out of Boys & Girls after leading the Kangaroos to a second straight PSAL Class AA crown. Rather than attend junior college, he wound up at prep school Bridgton Academy in Maine, a year of development that just delayed the inevitable.
Nichols, who went from Bridgton to South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, committed to Hofstra last week, picking the Pride and its new staff over Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Fordham and TCU. South Plains assistant coach Hank Plona said Hofstra made Nichols a clear priority, sending each member of its staff to the junior college in West Texas.
“They saw him four or five times — far more than any other East Coast school has ever come down here for a kid,” Plona said. “He just really seems at ease. He’s super fired up. He can’t wait [to get there]. They did a great job making him feel 100-percent comfortable.”
The well-rounded southpaw is averaging eight points, six rebounds and three assists per game for South Plains (21-3), ranked fifth in the nation in the latest NJCAA poll. He is the latest addition to Mihalich’s program, and will add to an already impressive incoming core that includes transfers Brian Bernardi (SMU), Ameen Tanksley (Niagara) and Juan’ya Green (Niagara), in addition to high school recruit Andre Walker, a 6-foot-11 center from The Bullis School in Potomac, Md. Though Hofstra is currently struggling, losing five in a row and sporting a 7-17 record, it hasn’t taken Mihalich long to rebuild the roster after replacing Mo Cassara.
The latest piece is Nichols, who should fit in well with a sharpshooter such as Bernardi and point guard such as Green.
“He’s a guy that can really help you win games,” Plona said. “He rebounds, he defends, he handles the ball. If you have three other scores on the floor, he pushes your team over the top. He can cover up weaknesses of other people.”
Thurgood Marshall Academy senior guard Dimencio Vaughn landed a scholarship offer from Rhode Island, which joins George Mason, Hofstra, Drexel, Iona, Quinnipiac, Monmouth, Norfolk State and Fairfield among his suitors.
South Carolina recently offered a scholarship Christ the King senior forward Adonis Delarosa, who is being recruited by a host of local programs, such as St. John’s, Seton Hall and Fordham. He is expected to visit South Carolina and St. John’s this week and pick a school by April.
Highly rated sophomore guard Tyus Battle of Gill St. Bernard’s (N.J.) visited Syracuse last Saturday for its game against Duke and was at Villanova on Friday night as the Wildcats hosted Seton Hall.
Cardozo sophomore guard Rashond Salnave holds scholarship offers from Manhattan and Fordham.