Coach Rolando De La Barrera has been apart of Virgin Islands basketball for the past thirty-one (31) years. To hear him speak about players past and present one would think that he was born here. He has been a close friend to Peter Goodwin, Cyril Benjamin and now with the author of this piece, David Edole. With his new post as Coach at Western Oklahoma State, he is trying to reconnect with the past. My first V.I. player was Tyrone Farley at Miami Country Day School, said De La Barrera. I also coached Stephon Duberry then he transferred to Hallandale. He was a 6-foot-9 kid with tons of potential. At Champagnat School I had the pleasure of guiding Leberth Roberts, Akin Hughes-Joseph, Rasheem Richards and Jabahri Brown. Those were fun years. At Berkshire Prep I had Josiah James for a year before he transferred to Hallandale. In all, I had a good time with St. Thomas talent. I did not have any opportunity to coach St. Croix kids. I never had a chance to meet Cuthbert Victor. At that time De La Barrera received the best that the Virgin Islands had to offer. He did not have to compete with so many other mainland coaches that have almost left the country bare. Back when I was recruiting, the V.I. was under exposed, said De La Barrera. They were pocket of kids that were real good. I remember Holman Harley and a pocket of kids going to Piney Woods. Now a lot of kids are going all over the place, added De La Barrera. I see several kids in Delaware and some in Piney Woods. I think the V.I. is presently overexposed. I can log on to latinbasket.com and find information. I can see the Sun Stroke All V.I. Hoops classic over the internet. It is not difficult to get information on Virgin Islands talent. I dont think another Tim Duncan is going to pop up out of no place. If your 6-6, 6-7 in the ninth grade, someone is going to grab you. Imagine another Jabahri Brown in the 10th or 11th.' Coach De La Barrera is so in love with the Virgin Islands talent that he recently signed Jose Santos of McArthur high school in Miami, Florida. I usually track talent in the Miami area and I saw a clip of Jose, said De La Barrera. I knew Coach Ray Lockhart, who is from St. Croix, and I reached out to him. It was like memory lane talking to Lockhart. He and I spoke at length about the past. Santos a 6-foot-7 forward averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Santos is also a member of the Virgin Island junior mens national team and is expected to play with the team this summer at the FIBA Americas 18U. Many times coaches may recruit players that fit their style of play, said De La Barrera. I like to see what I have and build the offense and defense based on it. Jose reminds me of a player I had here three years ago. That player went on to play at the University of Central Arkansas. So if Jose comes to play defense, gives us energy and blocks some shots. The future will be bright. Western Oklahoma State is coming off a 14-17 season and Coach De La Barrera is optimistic. We had a difficult time finishing games, said De La Barrera. We lost about seven games in the last minute. Our guards just did not get it done. Hopefully since they were freshmen it is out of their system. With all the optimism and another Virgin Islander in tow, the Pioneers could be a couple baskets away from the NJCAA title game.
Frank Elegar wins the title in Estonia - May 18, 2013
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Frank Elegar (208-C-86, college: Drexel) wins the title in Estonia as his Kalev/Cramo became the Estonian champion for the third year in a row. In the fourth game Kalev/Cramo posted an 81:69 win for 4-0 in the series.
The game was mostly controlled by Kalev/Cramo. TU/Rock managed to win fourth quarter 25-22. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They outrebounded TU/Rock 39-26 including a 31-20 advantage in defensive rebounds [read more]
Frank Elegar (208-C-86, college: Drexel) wins the title in Estonia as his Kalev/Cramo became the Estonian champion for the third year in a row. In the fourth game Kalev/Cramo posted an 81:69 win for 4-0 in the series. The game was mostly controlled by Kalev/Cramo. TU/Rock managed to win fourth quarter 25-22. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They outrebounded TU/Rock 39-26 including a 31-20 advantage in defensive rebounds. It was a great shooting night for Kalev/Cramo especially from behind the arc, where they had solid 61.5 percentage. 29 personal fouls committed by TU/Rock helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of U.S. Virgin Islands center Frank Elegar who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 15 points and 12 rebounds and Ty Abbott who added 16 points and 6 rebounds during the contest. Four Kalev/Cramo players scored in double figures. Armands Skele added 13 points and 5 rebounds. At the losing side Ivan Nelyubov responded with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks and Rain Veideman scored 19 points.
In search of more playing time, Southern Miss guard Deon Edwin(188-G) is expected to transfer from the men's basketball team.Edwin, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard from the Virgin Islands, averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game as a freshman for the 27-10 Golden Eagles.USM coach Donnie Tyndall said he had talked with Edwin and couldn't guarantee him more minutes on the court in 2013-14 [read more]
In search of more playing time, Southern Miss guard Deon Edwin (188-G) is expected to transfer from the men's basketball team. Edwin, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard from the Virgin Islands, averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game as a freshman for the 27-10 Golden Eagles. USM coach Donnie Tyndall said he had talked with Edwin and couldn't guarantee him more minutes on the court in 2013-14. Deons minutes were limited this year, and with the guys we have returning with the guys we have sitting out, he just felt like it was in his best interest to go play somewhere else where he can get more minutes, Tyndall said. Hes a great kid, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future.
Cincinnati Hughes, Angel Rivera-Cuencas(170-PG) has decided to reclassify back to the class of 2014. He was originally the class of 2014 but after moving to Cincinnati from Puerto Rico he lost a year of eligibility. Rivera will be attending IMG Academy in Tampa , Florida. He helped lead Hughes to its first district title since the 1955-56 season averaging 16 points, 9 assist and 4 rebounds per game this past season [read more]
Cincinnati Hughes, Angel Rivera-Cuencas (170-PG) has decided to reclassify back to the class of 2014. He was originally the class of 2014 but after moving to Cincinnati from Puerto Rico he lost a year of eligibility. Rivera will be attending IMG Academy in Tampa , Florida. He helped lead Hughes to its first district title since the 1955-56 season averaging 16 points, 9 assist and 4 rebounds per game this past season. Angel is a second half athlete and has been training with us for over a year now. I am proud to see all his hard work paying off, this young man has a bright future ahead of him!
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