hawk422.

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Dunlap Inks Brandon Hawkins;
Garrison Might Follow To D-II Metro State--(April 22,1998)

Mike Dunlap, the first year head coach at D-II Metropolitan State of Denver has pulled off a pretty big signing this week by securing Brandon Hawkins (6'-2" Sr PG/SG) from Crenshaw. Hawkins is considered by many to have been one of Crenshaw's star players this season, and was also thought to have been a D-I prospect. This last season, Hawkins averaged more than 20 points a game, and had a high of 33 against Westchester in the City semifinals, an effort that went for naught as Westchester dominated Crenshaw in the game, 93-78.

Metro State should be a great fit for Hawkins. The school plays in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and finished this past year with an overall record of 25-5 and 17-4 in conference play.

The team roster also includes Ollie Brent (6'-4" Fr. F) from San Pedro, Kevin DeWig (6'-5" Jr. F) from Santa Monica, and Rashawn Fulcher (6'-3" Fr. G) from Oakland, CA.

The California connection to Metro also got a bit stronger this past week as Dunlap also signed Richard Lugowski (6'-5" So. SG) from Merced Community College. Lugowski averaged 20 points per game, and was the star three-point shooter of the Merced team, hitting 94 three-point attempts.

We've also heard from Mike Miller at WestCoastHoops that Philip Heath (5'-10" Sr. SG) from Seattle's Rainier Beach High, has signed to play with Metro State, which should make for a very nice backcourt combination.

We earlier reported some details of Dunlap's career, and his connection to SoCal, and what could actually be called the Cal Lutheran conspiracy: Jeff Young, current coach of Chaminade's team, and Dean Bradshaw, coach at Simi, played under or with Dunlap at CLU. After CLU, Dunlap went to Australia to coach in their professional ABL (the Australian Basketball League) for the Adelaide '36er's, and then came back to the US to head the Metro program for the first time in 1997.

The official Metro State website states that Dunlap's "philosophy of the game of basketball also plays a big role in the lives of his players outside the program, not just on the floor.

"I'm creating a work ethic for my program," Dunlap said. "By investing in people who have good values and convictions, you are getting the people who have the discipline to carry through on their responsibilities."

"I look for guys with good character first, guys who know how to win second, and guys who will sacrifice for the greater good of the team third," Dunlap said. "If the players I bring in keep there priorities in line, they will be winners, and that's not just in basketball. If they think education, basketball and then family they will be right with both me and themselves."

Finally, Mike Miller also thinks that Anthony Garrison (6'-4" Sr. PF), who is just a huge guy and must weigh about 240 lbs, from Crenshaw is also likely to follow Brandon to Denver. We were unable to confirm this with him after the Snapple Eddie Jones game last Sunday (he played in the Southern California All-Star game), but it's a safe bet that Garrison would be a starter for Dunlap if he goes.