One to watch: Deonte Huff

Working yourself into a huff usually has a negative connotation.

But this certainly doesn't apply with Antelope Valley College (AVC) shooting guard Deonte Huff.

Huff has developed his game to such a degree that a number of Division One basketball coaches are interested. And rightly so, for who wouldn't want a 6-4, 195, scorer manning the 2-guard spot for the next couple of years?

An exceptional offensive player averaging 23.2 ppg., Huff is a slasher and a scorer off the dribble, He also possesses superb athletic ability. Jumping prowess - check. Quickness - you bet. Excellent footspeed - absolutely.

For the just-concluded season, Huff shot .538% from the floor and .664% from the foul line, on an eye-opening 286 charity stripe attempts. He also averaged 3.7 assists a game and 2 steals per contest. His rebounding stats are intriguing: a total of 203, of which 76 came on the offensive end.

"He definitely is a scorer," says his Coach Newton Chelette, who later added, "he can shoot the three but that's not his forte--creating and putting the ball in the hoop is."

Chelette also described Huff as "among the top three or four kids I've ever coached."

Huff has yet to schedule any recruiting trips but Utah State and a number of Big West schools--Pacific, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and others--- are hoping to receive a visit.

A graduate of Lancaster High (where Antelope Valley Community College is located) Huff will need a couple of summer classes to fulfill his graduation requirements.

As for Coach Chelette, he is retiring from coaching after 32 years (17 at AVC where he won ten conference titles), having begun in 1974 when he returned to his high school alma mater, Iowa High, in Louisiana. But he's becoming the full-time, non-interim athletics director at Antelope Valley as the school needs someone to 'coach' the multiple campus building projects that are in the works.

In 2004, Chelette led his AVC squad to the state championship Final Four.

In 1996-97, the Marauders set a school record for wins in a season, won a third straight conference championship, were ranked second in the state and went to the state tournament. Chelette was named State Coach of the Year that season and also in 2003-04,

in 1984, Chelette became head basketball coach and athletic director at Southeastern Louisiana and promptly won the Gulf Star Conference Championship, while being named Conference Coach of the Year.

In 1975, he returned to his college alma mater, McNeese State, as an assistant coach and recruited Joe Dumars to the school. Dumars later became a first-round NBA draft choice, the Most Valuable Player of the 1989 NBA Championships Series and is currently the general manager of the Detroit Pistons.

Chelette and Dumars have stayed in touch, emailing each other frequently. According to Chelette, "there was no doubt in my mind that Joe would end up in the NBA." He added, "Joe is even a better person than he was as a player."