Shields filling in blank at point

LITTLE ROCK — When Steve Shields was putting together last year’s recruiting class, he knew it was going to include at least two point guards.

His UALR men’s basketball roster dictated as much at the time.

So when a high school senior from Bossier City, La., and another from Houston each signed up for a trip to Little Rock, Shields scheduled them for the same weekend. A couple of weeks later, Josh Hagins and John Gillon decided to commit on the same day.

UALR opens its season tonight against Tennessee-Martin at the Jack Stephens Center, and how quickly they make they transition from high school basketball to college basketball could be a big factor in UALR’s success this season.

Shields said earlier this week he wasn’t sure who will start at point guard tonight, or how much either of the freshmen will play.

“I think each of them has made progress to this point,” Shields said. “Anytime you have freshman point guards, value of the basketball is No. 1.”

That was the biggest issue during early practices last month and scrimmages against Stephen F. Austin and Harding. Shields said last week he was glad the scrimmages were closed because spectators in the first few rows would have had black eyes from errant passes into the stands.

“You get up here thinking it’s not going to be that hard, but you wake up,” Hagins said. “Soon as you get up here you realize it. It’s no joke.”

Hagins averaged 14.4 points, 7 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.6 steals as a senior at Airline High School in Bossier City. Gillon averaged 21 points and four assists as a senior at Strake Jesuit in Houston while playing alongside Duke signee Rasheed Sulaimon.

Hagins and Gillon didn’t know each other before last year, but they bonded during their visit and decided to call Shields on the same day to let him know they would be heading back to play for UALR.

“I was like, ‘Let’s just do it,’ ” said Gillon, who also visited Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Pepperdine and Jackson State. “We just thought it was the right thing to do. We thought we could help this school, and we both thought the school could do the most for us.”

The competition has gone well, even if they are going after the same spot.

“People probably thought there could be some animosity. There’s none of that at all,” Hagins said. “We’re here to win. Everybody wants to play, but at the same time, when it comes down to it, if the team wins, me and him are okay.”

Both cited UALR’s unsettled prospects at point guard as a reason for choosing the Trojans.

D’Andre Williams led UALR with an average of 13.2 points per game and 122 assists and was named firstteam All-Sun Belt as a senior. The year before, he helped UALR advance to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in more than 20 years.

Hagins and Gillon aren’t the only first-year players who will be counted on against the Skyhawks tonight or at some point this season. The Trojans have eight freshmen and two junior-college transfers who could move into the rotation at some point.

But it’s a different feeling for Shields heading into a season without such an important position decided.

“Every team is different,” Shields said. “Every journey of every team is different. I like the way these guys have worked.”