Nicks will set visits next week

Early in the junior college season, it seemed major schools had some questions about the size of Temple Junior College point guard Dekyron Nicks. Leading the Leopards to a 31-and-1 season seems to have erased those questions.

"We were 31-1 and most of the guys he played against were bigger and we won," said Temple head coach Kirby Johnson. "That's what I think people have to look at. I know that's what I look at. I don't want the guy that fills up the box score, I want the guy that beats the other guy."

Plenty of Division One coaches want Nicks.

"There are five schools, and he'll visit three of them," Johnson said. "If you visit more than that, it starts to run into May and that would be tough."

Those schools are Hawaii, Marshall, Montana, Wyoming and Purdue. Much of what happens from here for Nicks will likely depend on a visit from the Boilermakers this Friday.

"If Purdue ends up offering for sure, that would be one of the three (visits)," Johnson said. "They're interested, they've talked to him, they're coming down Friday. They haven't actually said we've got an offer for you, but this late if they're coming down he's being considered."

If the Boilers do offer and get a visit, there will be only one trip left. That's because Johnson said Nicks will definitely visit Hawaii.

"Hawaii's been on him all year," said the coach. "That would be someplace not just that you want to visit, because everybody would want to visit Hawaii, but since they've been here all year that's something he would want to do out of respect and loyalty to them."

If Purdue doesn't offer, Johnson said he thinks Nicks will trip to Hawaii and Wyoming, then decide between Marshall and Montan for his final trip.

Nicks isn't the only player from Temple trying to map out his visits. 6-foot-1 Tyrone Bazy, who played with Nix in high school at Bryan, is also getting some interest. The College of Charleston has offered Bazy and he's also being looked at by Denver and Boise State.

"Tyrone is a 6-1 wing and he was our leading scorer," Johnson said. "He's another one of those guys, the drawback is his size. My response would be again we were 31-1, led the nation in scoring, he was our leading scorer. What do you want from him? Would it be nice if he were 6-4? Yes, but he's not."

Johnson said Bazy will definitely visit Charleston. Boise State just entered the race yesterday, so the Broncos do not yet have an official offer on the table.

"The good thing with Tyrone is he's a 3.5 GPA student," Johnson said. "Both of those guys were predictors out of high school, so they don't even have to necessarily graduate."

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