When Dashaun Wiggins verbally committed to Seton Hall Saturday afternoon, he cited many reasons for the decision.
The Pirates are close to his Bronx home, are part of the Big East, a conference he called the best in the country, and play their home games at Prudential Center, a state-of-the-art arena in Newark, N.J.
Most of all, however, it was the presence of assistant coach Dermon Player that won the 6-foot-2 Wiggins over. See, the two have known one another since Wiggins was 10 years old, through a connection with his former AAU program, Team Next.
“We would talk about basketball and life,” Wiggins said.
So when Player sold the program, it wasn’t just another assistant coach in his ear. It was a friendly voice.
“He wouldn’t hurt me. I know Dermon Player as a coach and a person,” said Wiggins, a former standout at Wings Academy currently enrolled at Bridgeton Academy (Maine) in the Class of 2011. He led the Wings to the second round of the PSAL Class AA playoffs last year, averaging 19 points per game.
“He’s a scorer, I’m sure that was the area that attracted them,” talent evaluator Tom Konchalski said.
Bridgton coach Whit Lesure said Wiggins is in the mold of the undersized Villanova guards. He’s not a natural point guard, too undersized to be a shooting guard. But he can create shots for himself and others.
“He gets by on skill and grit,” Lesure said. “He’s a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.”
Wiggins left the Bronx school for Bridgton Academy to improve his academic standing and mature as a person as much as a basketball player. At the Maine school, Wiggins said he is working to become a more independent person.
A sweet-shooting southpaw, he was also recruited by St. John’s, South Florida and George Mason. Wiggins took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall in September, when he toured the campus and sat in on team workouts.
He spoke extensively with Player and head coach Bobby Gonzalez. Wiggins, who attended a Seton Hall game last year, thinks he fits in well with Gonzalez’s up-tempo attack.
Wiggins took extra satisfaction that he will one day be playing in the league he grew up watching on television. Many in his neighborhood doubted him at a young age. He had a tendency to get in trouble and failed off the basketball team his freshman year. He was told he would end up in junior college, or worse.
