New York City hoops standouts often leave the area when it comes time to picking a college. Having already seen other parts of the country, Travis Nichols and Dre Calloway wanted to come home.
St. Francis College offered them that opportunity.
“I’ve been away a long time,” said Calloway, who was in Colorado the last three years. “I’m really hyped to come back.”
Calloway and Nichols recently signed National Letters of Intent to join new coach Glenn Braica’s first recruiting class at the Brooklyn school. Braica, Norm Roberts’ head assistant at St. John’s University for six years, also inked 6-foot- guard Adam Chmielewski of Canada, 6-foot-8 power forward Matt Milk of Wantagh, N.Y., and 6-foot-2 shooting guard Ben Mockford from England.
“I feel fortunate that we were able to bring in such a talented group during the late signing period,” he said. “I have to credit my staff for their hard work in helping to bring these guys on board. With the exception of Mockford (will sit out due to NCAA transfer rules), I expect all of them to challenge for significant minutes next season.”
The program’s recent struggles – St. Francis has failed to finish over .500 overall or in conference play any of the last six years – didn’t worry Calloway or Nichols. They see it as an opportunity to be part of a turnaround. Furthermore, Braica’s was a winner in his previous stop at St. Francis as an assistant, helping the Terriers reach a pair of NEC conference title games and compile a 118-83 record in his last seven years there.
“He’s new, but he’s all about winning,” Calloway said. “He just came from St. John’s, he has some good experience in the Big East conference. When he was at St. Francis, they were at the top of the league. Now that he has the head-coaching job, it will be the same or even better.”
Nichols was impressed with Braica the person as much as Braica the basketball coach. He talked about having a career if basketball didn’t work out, not what Nichols could bring to the program on the court.
“He cares about us,” Nichols said.
Calloway and Nichols will certainly help.
Nichols, a 6-foot-4 swingman out of Brooklyn, starred at Food & Finance (now West 50th Street Campus), leading the Manhattan school to the PSAL Class A title game in 2008 by averaging 23.5 points per game. He averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds per game in his one year at Gulf Coast Community College (Fla.). He initially committed to Troy College, but decommitted because he wanted to be closer to home. Nichols picked St. Francis over Hofstra, Fordham, and Siena.
“I could go to these other schools and not play or I could go to St. Francis and play right away,” said Nichols, who plans to study sports management.
Calloway, a southpaw floor general who also drew interest from BYU, Lamar, Southern Utah, and UNLV, posted seven points and three assists per game for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. Despite missing an entire year because of an illness. Before that, he excelled at Lincoln High School (Denver, Colo.), reaching the Class 4A state title game and was a 2008 Denver Post all-state first-team selection, after one season at Rice and two at Our Savior Lutheran.
Calloway was intrigued by the possibilities at St. Francis. He played AAU basketball with or against two future teammates, senior guards Ricky Cadell and Akeem Bennett.
“With all the guys we have the addition of the new coach,” he said, “it seems like we should be able to improve.”