Rohith Nandagiri
Staff Writer
The University of Houston's new basketball regime signed its first player Wednesday, and his pedigree is one of the game's finest.
George Gervin Jr., son of NBA Hall of Famer George "Iceman" Gervin, will be teamed up with Hall of Fame center Moses Malone Sr.'s son, Moses Malone Jr.
The 6-2 Gervin played at Arizona State during the 1996-1997 season but transferred to San Jacinto Junior College this past season.
He will enter UH as a junior and will provide immediate help at the point guard position.
Gervin was swayed by the hire of Clyde Drexler as coach and the proximity to his parents in San Antonio.
"I came to Houston because I like the facilities and because it is so close to home. Hopefully, (Drexler) can make me into an NBA player."
Gervin, known more as a slasher and penetrator, can also hit the outside shot. He hit 40 percent from beyond the arc last season and averaged 16.7 points per game and 5.1 assists per game for the junior college. He played his high school ball in San Antonio at MacArthur High School.
Malone, who will graduate from Friendswood High School next month, will help to solidify the shooting guard position. He averaged almost 30 points a game and nine rebounds for his playoff team.
Malone (6-5) is very anxious to get the ball rolling.
"I cannot wait for the season to start. It should be exciting," he said.
In an interesting twist, current University of Texas the 6-9 shooting guard Luke Axtell has been quoted as saying he might want to come to UH. KRIV Fox 26 reported Tuesday night that assistant coach Reid Gettys was "interested" in talking with the Austin native.
Axtell has asked for and received his release from his Longhorn scholarship and can go anywhere he chooses. He has already been contacted by such NCAA tournament schools as Texas Christian University and Kansas.
Axtell, ironically, is the player many believe to be the cause of Tom Penders resigning as UT coach.
Another player high on UH's wish list is Waltrip's Cedric Taylor. Taylor has listed Houston as one of his final three choices, and Cougar coaches are very high on the 6-7 post player.
However, his grades are a concern.
With Wednesday being the beginning of the spring signing period, UH should have at least one more player sign at the end of the high school year after final grades are out.
Gettys said he has a plan for next season.
"We've been contacted by so many players who want to get out of their scholarships and come home, and our biggest problem is not enough scholarships; that is the way it should be," he said.
"We have five quality backcourt players who can flat-out play at this level (Roy Spears, Treva Crosby, Chad Hendrick, Malone, Gervin). We need big kids, we are looking at an inside presence who is about 6-10.
"However, we are going to resist the temptation to just sign a kid just for the sake of using all of our scholarships."
If the Cougars are able to retain Donald Emanuel and land a quality big man like Taylor, the Cougars will have one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.
In other Conference USA recruiting news, DePaul has been cited by several publications as having the best recruiting class in the nation. Three of its incoming players were part of the Parade All-American team and one is a McDonald's All-American.
Also, Larry Hughes of Saint Louis, the C-USA and NCAA freshman of the year, announced his decision to enter the NBA draft which will be held in June.
The 6-5 guard is expected to be taken in the first 15 picks.