Collin Dennis: No longer a secret weapon

[Papa_Bull]

College basketball

No longer a secret weapon

Earlier in the season, opponents would let freshman Collin Dennis take wide-open shots. Now they know better.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer

Published February 19, 2005

TAMPA - Collin Dennis was only halfway through the first game of his high school freshman season when his coach called him out in front of the team. Dennis had gone scoreless, and Richard Bacon reminded him that he hadn't put him on the varsity to pass the ball.

"He wanted me to stop playing timid," Dennis remembers of his first game at Richland High, near Fort Worth, Texas. "I was giving everybody else the ball. I was just a freshman; it was their show. He told me he wanted me to score, so I went out and scored."

He had 17 points in the second half, leading the team to victory, just a flash of what the 6-foot-2 guard would do for four years.

Dennis is a freshman again, the only one on USF's roster, and Bacon saw that familiar quiet confidence and a flash of his prep dominance when he drove to Houston for the Bulls' game Wednesday.

"He came out and scored their first five points, and I thought, there he goes again," said Bacon, who will have much of his team in attendance when USF travels to Fort Worth to play Texas Christian on March 2. "To see him play again, you remember how effortless it looks when he plays. That's not to say he isn't working hard out there."

Dennis finished with nine points against Houston, but he has shown himself capable of huge games, scoring 21 in a win against Texas-Arlington and 25 in a loss at Alabama-Birmingham.

The Bulls (10-13) host East Carolina tonight, facing a team they beat 72-71 on the road in their Conference USA opener, and Dennis played a major role. He scored 15 and went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final 1:37, perhaps the most clutch shooting performance by any Bull this season.

"He's got a toughness about him that I really admire, something you really like to see in players," said coach Robert McCullum, who is impressed with the 19-year-old's defensive abilities. "He defends the ball better than anyone we have, and it's unusual for a freshman to be able to do that. He's one that's bought into the importance of defense, and I wish we had more like him, in terms of being defensive-minded."

It has been a year of adjustment for Dennis, who has added 20 pounds since arriving on campus a lean 165. He has recovered from a hip flexor injury that limited his play early, but his biggest change has been keeping up with the talent level of everyone around him.

"It's a big, big step up in the competition. In high school, you might play against a D-I player every eight or 10 games, but here, you're facing an NBA player every other game," said Dennis, who grew up idolizing the Pacers' Reggie Miller and patterned his shooting motion after him.

He faced another adjustment three weeks ago, when he was moved into the starting lineup for good. He has played at least 30 minutes in the past five games, and any anonymity he might have enjoyed earlier in the season is gone.

"Now teams are really preparing for you. It's harder to score, to even get shots off," said Dennis, who has averaged 10.8 points in the past six games. "I don't think they knew me before that, because I was getting wide-open shots almost every night. Now, everything's contested, and I really have to work for it, but that's helping me for next year."

Dennis is on pace to be USF's top returning scorer, at 7.4 points a game he trails seniors Terrence Leather, Brian Swift and Marlyn Bryant.

How did McCullum pluck Dennis out of Texas when more established programs such as Connecticut, Arizona State and Oklahoma also were after him? McCullum picks a few recruits each year and designates them as "head coach's kids," his personal recruits, making himself the primary contact in visits and phone calls.

"They're our version of a blue-chipper, to make them feel special. They may be recruited by other schools at our level or higher, they're not getting individualized attention from other head coaches. Hopefully, that can make a difference. I thought it helped with Collin."

Said Bacon: "It impressed us that Coach McCullum was exclusively recruiting Collin. I can't even tell you an assistant coach's name there," Bacon said. "That personal attention, it outweighed a lot of other things from other schools."

Bacon's favorite memory of Dennis came from his senior year, when he was the focus of defenses and still found ways to score. In one game against a rival high school, Richland was down 14 points with six minutes to play. With three minutes to go, Richland had an eight-point lead.

"That's a 22-point swing, and it was all Collin Dennis," Bacon said. "He single-handedly brought us back, and he's capable of being that kind of player in college as well."

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:57:17]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/19/Sports/No_longer_a_secret_we.shtml

[Jebbull]

I like the guy.  I think he is a tremendous baller.

[Bull Matrix]

Dennis is pretty fun to watch out there when we are playing defense and offense. Sure, he is making some mistakes because of him being a freshman. But what is good about Dennis is that he keeps going at it no matter how bad his shot is off. I notice that a lot of the other players kind of freeze up when they start off missing shots. Dennis may be our team leader next season.

[bigbull]

Collin is a great kid that is only gonna get better....Has a great head on his shoulders and I believe that Marlyn has kind of taken him under his wing because Collin can defend the basketball as well.

[bulls96go]

is he a mac recruit?

sound like he has potential .

anyone know if mosley is even at the point to consider a comeback?

[Velcro]

I don't think it is even on the radar right now for mosley... beating the cancer is the only thing on his mind, i would think.