Warriors courting junior college shooting guard

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

A national championship player is expected to join the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team soon.

Jake Sottos, the captain and leading scorer for Southeastern (Iowa) Community College's national championship team, said last night he will probably sign a letter of intent to play for UH.

"It's a great situation; I've pretty much made up my mind (to attend Hawai'i)," he said. "I just need to talk it over one last time with my family and coaches back home."

Sottos, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound shooting guard, averaged a team-best 16.6 points per game last season as a sophomore at Southeastern. The Blackhawks went 37-1 and won the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national championship.

Sottos was in Honolulu the past two days on a recruiting visit, and is scheduled to return to Southeastern CC today.

"He was one of our leaders on and off the court and we won the national championship, so that alone says a lot about him," said Southeastern coach Joe O'Brien.

Sottos set a school record with 127 3-pointers last season, and was a first-team All-Region XI selection. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range and also averaged 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

Jerry Mullen, publisher of FutureStars Magazine, describes Sottos as "a long-range bomber; a wiry tough shooter with range to NBA 3."

O'Brien said Sottos "can get on a streak where everything goes in" but is not necessarily just an outside threat.

"He holds all our 3-point records, but he can also put it on the floor and drive," O'Brien said. "He has a knack for scoring is what it is."

Prior to attending Southeastern, Sottos was a first-team all-state selection as a junior and senior at Monmouth High in Monmouth, Ill.

Sottos said the only other recruiting visit he made this year was to Eastern Michigan. Other programs showing interest were Colorado, New Mexico, Bradley, Texas-El Paso and Evansville. He was also invited to walk on at Illinois.

Sottos would be the fourth recruit to sign with the 'Bows for next season. The others are forward Jeff Blackett from Salt Lake Community College (Utah), point guard Logan Lee from South Plains College (Texas) and guard/forward Bobby Nash from Iolani School.

Per NCAA rules, UH coaches are not allowed to comment on recruits until the letter of intent is signed.