South Plains Update: Frosh Qualifiers
South Plains features a number of freshmen qualifiers this year, and we'll look at two players specifically in this article.
Julian Richardson, a 6-0 red-shirt freshman point guard from Miami, Fla., and Tyler Hatch, a 6-5 freshman swingman from Fort Worth, Tex., have both helped the Texans reach a 12-5 mark this season.
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Richardson red-shirted at Oklahoma State in 2002-2003 prior to arriving at South Plains. Through 13 games this season, he averaged 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists, logging roughly eight minutes per contest.
"He's steady, has a strong upper body and can leave here with three years," South Plains Head Coach told JUCO Junction on Monday night after the Texans' 78-60 victory over Odessa College. "He's also been at a big-time level before, which should help him make the transition back to the D-I level."
Hatch started nine of the Texans' first 13 games, and he's pretty much become a fixture in South Plains' starting lineup. He averaged 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and two assists per outing in those games.
While he's not putting up a ton of points in South Plains balanced attack, Hatch has been an efficient scorer, converting 55 percent from the floor and 42 percent beyond the three point arc.
According to Coach Green, Stephen F. Austin has expressed preliminary interest in Hatch, who could leave junior college with three years to play on the Division I level.
"He's the kind of guy you need on a team," Green explained. "He does the blue collar things and he defends."
JUCO Junction will continue to keep you abreast on both Richardson and Hatch as the spring signing period approaches. Stay tuned!