Former Ursuline player commits to South Florida

May 1, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

By JOHN HARRIS

A year ago, former Ursuline basketball player David Collins hadn’t received a single Division I scholarship offer,

Toledo gave Collins a chance to become a preferred walk-on with the promise of a scholarship down the line. Jerry Slocum’s coaching staff at Youngstown State told Collins he was a Division II prospect. Wright State showed interest until coach Billy Donlon was fired.

“He didn’t have any offers at the time,” said Collins’ mother, Dorothy Collins, YSU’s career scoring leader in women’s basketball who was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.

Uncertainty about his basketball future led Collins to transfer from Ursuline to First Love Christian Academy, a small private school in Washington, Pa., in January 2016.

The change in schools was not only geographical, it also proved to be eye-opening for Collins, who received approximately 23 Division I offers before signing last week with South Florida of the American Athletic Conference.

“I knew I could play at that level, I just had to develop my game, work harder and show what I could do,” said Collins, a 6-foot-3 guard who also considered Duquesne and Akron among his finalists.

Other schools that recruited Collins included Cincinnati, Connecticut, Maryland, TCU, VCU, Tennessee, Georgetown, West Virginia, Washington State, Rice, Kent State, Buffalo, Fordham, Siena and Iona. After initially promising to make him a walk-on, Toledo offered Collins a scholarship.

Collins received his first scholarship offer from South Florida following a strong AAU performance last summer. However, the departure of coach Orlando Antigua due to academic issues resulted in Collins changing his mind and committing to YSU last November. South Florida is not expected to receive probation.

Jerrod Calhoun, who replaced Slocum in March, got the Penguins back in the recruiting picture with Collins, but the coaching change and the lure of playing for his mother’s alma mater couldn’t keep him at home.

“He had good conversations with Coach Calhoun. He liked Coach Calhoun. He liked Coach Calhoun’s vision,” Dorothy Collins said. “I just think he wanted to go away to school.”

First Love coach Khayree Wilson said, “he gave them a shot because they were the hometown school.”

Collins said he’s talented enough to play Division I basketball even if he had remained at Ursuline.

“But I wouldn’t have had as many choices or the bigger looks that I got from schools because of the teams we played,” Collins said. “We played the best of the best. That right there propelled those schools to recruit me.“

First Love played nationally-ranked programs such as Oak Hill, Westtown School and Findlay Prep, which was No. 2 in the country and led by Kentucky signee P.J. Washington when it faced First Love in December.

Collins racked up 31 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals with a monster rebound dunk in a loss against Findlay Prep, but he left that weekend with three more scholarship offers, including one from Cincinnati.

“When David came here last year, he was just trying to fit in. He came here in the middle of January,” said Wilson, who first met Collins as his assistant coach on a summer AAU team. “After the season was over, I had my sit-down with David and told him it was time to step it up.”

Wilson said that Collins, who averaged 18 points this season, completely transformed his game.

“For David, the sky’s the limit,” said Wilson, who is sending Collins’ teammate, Prince Oduro, to Division I Siena next season. “He’s a relentless worker on the court.

“He works hard in the classroom. He gets it. He can dribble, pass and shoot at all three levels (perimeter, mid-range, post).”

Collins, who will take two classes at South Florida beginning in June, thanked Wilson for maximizing his talent.

“Coach Khayree developed my mentality and confidence more than just me being able to score,” Collins said. “Most of it was already there. I just had to unlock it.”

Wilson and Collins both said that area high school players have asked about First Love Academy, which requires that players live together in a house off-campus and focus totally on basketball when they’re not in class.

“I’ve had some kids ask me about First Love. A lot of kids want to go there,” Collins said, “It’s more of a trend now for people who want to play ball at the next level to go to these prep schools. It’s like having a college experience early. You play in front of so many colleges, you’ve got more opportunities to be seen. At First Love, you literally eat and sleep basketball.”

Said Wilson: “I’ve gotten a couple emails from Youngstown kids, Dave has helped us tremendously in Ohio. Kids know there’s a place about 45 minutes away that will really help achieve their goal to play at the highest level. I think it’s going to be exciting for people in the area knowing you have a place right at your front door that will be one of the best programs in the country in the years to come.”