Tracking the College Basketball Stars of the Future

ECU & C-USA Hoops Recruiting Report Sunday, June 27, 2004 By Thad Mumau Special Correspondent

Vetter: ECU, Hammonds right for each other

©2004 Bonesville.net

Stu Vetter has coached a lot of great teams and a lot of great players who have gone on to college basketball and beyond. One of the things he looks for when matching prospects with schools is whether it is a good fit.

“Tommy Hammonds and East Carolina are a good fit,” said Vetter, whose Rockville (MD) Montrose Christian School team finished 19th in the final USA Today high school poll. He has had a team in that publication’s end-of-season rankings each year since they began in 1982.

“Some kids are better off in the South and some are better off in the North. Tommy is from Florida, so the South is good for him. Also, I think he will have an opportunity to play real soon.”

Hammonds, who signed in the spring with ECU, is the son of Tom Hammonds, a two-time first-team All-ACC forward who spent 12 seasons in the NBA.

“He has good stock,” Vetter said, “and not just as a basketball player. His dad is a very high quality guy, and that has carried over to Tommy. They both have great character.”

The younger Hammonds, a 6-4, 190-pound wing guard, averaged 11.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists and was the voted the most outstanding defensive player on a Montrose Christian team that went 25-4.

“He is explosive to the basket,” Vetter said, "and a good shooter. He got better and better as the season went on, particularly with his three-point shooting. He really improved there.”

Hammonds hit about 35 percent of his three-point attempts and sank 78 percent of his free throws. His best all-around game, according to Vetter, came against nationally ranked Philadelphia Simon Gratz in the Prime Time Shootout as he scored 18 points and had a fine floor game. He had a season-high 24 points in a runaway victory over Enterprise Charter of Washington, D.C.

“Tommy has a good work ethic,” Vetter said, “and he’s solid. He is also very athletic. He could have scored more for a lot of teams, but (Montrose Christian) had five players average in double figures.”

Hammonds did score more as a junior, when he scored 24 points a contest at Crestview (FL) High School.

“We don’t take many kids for just one year,” Vetter said, “but Tommy is an exceptional young man as an athlete and as a person. It really helped him to play with and against so many good players.”

Hammonds chose the Pirates over St. John’s and Rhode Island.

“As he got better,” Vetter said, “a lot of schools started coming after him. St. John’s, West Virginia and Rhode Island all offered scholarships late in the year.”

Hammonds rounds out a 6-man East Carolina 2004 class that also includes Marvin Kilgore, 6-3 wing guard from Philadelphia (PA) Lutheran Christian Academy; Charles Bronson, 6-10 center from Philadelphia (PA) Lutheran Christian Academy; Jonathan Hart, 6-7 small forward from Roselle (NJ) Abraham Clark; Josh King, 5-11 wing guard from Trinity (NC) High School; Mike Castro, 6-8 power forward from Cumberland (MD) Allegany Community College.

Pitino rakes ’em in

Have you noticed Louisville’s 2005 recruiting haul? It’s a doozie.

Rick Pitino and the Cardinals have commitments from four of the top 100 rising juniors as ranked by prepstars.com. The most recent is from 6-5 wing guard Terrence Williams, who is No. 39, of Seattle (WA) Rainier Beach. He picked Louisville over Kansas and Indiana.

Other pledges to the Cards are from No. 9 Andre McGee, a 5-11 point guard from Moreno Valley (Cal.) Canyon Springs; No. 14 Amir Johnson, a 6-8 power forward from Los Angeles (Cal.) Westchester; No. 63 Clarence Holloway, a 6-11 center from Chicago (Ill.) Harlan Community Academy; and unranked Lamar Roberson, a 6-6 small forward who played at Compton (Calif.) Dominguez last year but will be a fifth-year senior at a prep school in the fall.

Louisville’s 2005 class will also include transfer David Padgett, a 6-11 center who will sit out this season after leaving Kansas.

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02/23/2007 02:41:53 PM