MdVarsity.com caught up with Montrose Christian Coach Stu Vetter this week to discuss the college decisions of All-County guard Antwan Hardy and heavily recruited swingman Tom Hammonds. All five of the seniors on the Mustang's 2003-2004 varsity committed to D-I colleges for next year.

Earlier this month, Antwan Hardy signed with Stony Brook and Tom Hammonds signed with East Carolina.

Hardy, a 6' guard from the District of Columbia, averaged 13.3 points and 4

assists a game as a senior. He was a First Team all-County selection.

"Antwan's final choices came down to Stony Brook and Northeastern (both of which are in the America East Conference). They are both excellent schools with good basketball programs," said Coach Vetter. "Basically, I think it just came down to Antwan being a little more comfortable at Stony Brook,

thinking it was a little better fit. We have sent a couple of other players to America East colleges and it worked out well for them. I think that Antwan should get a chance to play there fairly early. He had a very good senior year, he improved a great deal. He is a very solid, smart player. If

Antwan were 6'5" instead of 6', he probably would be an All-American type player."

"Antwan was a four year player here at Montrose, he came up through our JV

program. He's a very skilled player who can be a 'combo guard' in college. In addition to being All-County, he was selected as an All America by the National Association of Christian Athletics. Antwan was selected as our "Most Outstanding Offensive Player" this year," said Coach Vetter.

Montrose Assistant Coach David Adkins told us that recruiting interest in Hardy went up exponentially after his outstanding performance in Montrose's win over National Christian Acadenmy late in the season.

Hammonds, the son of the former Georgia Tech All-American and long time NBA forward of the same name, chose East Carolina of the Conference USA even though a number of high D-I colleges made late recruiting pushes for his services.

"St. Johns of the Big East and Rhode Island of the A-10 both came in late on Tom and his parents were very comfortable with East Carolina. Both Tom and his parents preferred that he go to college in the South (he is from Crestview, Florida) and Conference USA is a very competitive league

and East Carolina has a good basketball tradition. Over the years, I've had a few kids go down to Eadst Carolina and do well, players I had at St. John's Prospect Hall and Flint Hill."

Hammonds averaged about 10.5 points a game as a senior, his only season in the Montrose program.

"We had five players average double figures in scoring this year, our scoring was very balanced. That is why Tom didn't score

more. He can shoot the three pointer and also takes the ball to the basket well. He has very good size and athleticism for a wing guard. East Carolina recruited him as a "2", whuich is his best college position."

"I think that Tom really would have benefitted by having gotten into our program sooner, and I think he and his parents feel the same way, but he still had an excellent year the season that he was here. Tom was our "Most Outstanding Defensive Player" this season. He played some of his best basketball against our toughest opponents, like Simon Gratz (of Philedelphia)," said Coach Vetter.

Coach Vetter also told us that Montrose senior Jeff Pack, a 6'6" 215 pound forward, will attend George Wasington University next year and play on the Colonial team.

Vetter's two most heralded seniors, Nigerian exchange students Tunji Soroye and Churchill Odia, both made verbal commitments in the Fall and signed binding National Letters on Intent in the Spring. Soroye, a 6'11" center who was selected All-County and who played in the Capital Classic Regional Game,

will attend Virginia. Odia, a 6'6" guard, will attend Xavier University.

MONTROSE NOTES:

- Coach Vetter told MdVarsity.com that 24 of the 26 seniors that he has had on his last five Montrose teams have committed to play college basketball.

- Nigerian exchange students Soroye and Odia not only picked-up the game of basketball quickly, they also made the necessary cultural and academic adjustments to succeed in the classroom at Montrose. Coach Adkins

told us that Churchill had a 3.4 GPA as a senior and that Tunji had over 1100 on his SATs and over a 3.2 GPA.

- Coach Vetter told MdVarsity.com that Montrose super frosh Herb Pope, a 6'8" 220 pound power forward/center from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) has continued to show vast improvent this off-season. As

we indicated late in the year in our reports from the Battle of the Beltway at Bullis Prep, Pope was playing exceptionally well late in the season. Next season, Pope will presumably team in the double post with Montrose's outstanding 6'8" senior Uche Echefu as Soroye's principal replacement. Pope is a suprisingly skilled and athletic young big man.

"I agree, Herb was playing very well at the end of this year," said Coach Vetter. "He has been working hard on his conditioning and getting stronger and he is improving

his skills. He could be a really outstanding player." As we noted previously, it was probably no coincidence that the University of Pittsburgh's top recruiting assistant was at the Montrose- National Christian Academy game at the Battle of the Beltway.