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UNM men's basketball: Signee Hobson recruits friends

By Jeremy Fowler
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Now that Darrington Hobson has officially signed his letter of intent to play for the University of New Mexico, his next job is that of salesman.

Hobson, the Decatur (Ill.) Christian School guard who signed with the Lobos on Monday, is trying to persuade highly touted juniors Beas Hamga and Lewis Jackson to play for the Lobos, Decatur coach Alan Huss said.

Hamga, a 6-foot-11 bruiser out of Decatur Christian, is considered the nation's fourth-best center in the 2008 class, according to Rivals.com. Jackson is a 5-10 junior point guard out of Decatur Eisenhower High School whom Scout.com ranks the 27th-best point guard in his class.

Both are good friends with Hobson, a 6-7 point guard whose talent ranks among the top-20 high school players in the country, Huss said.

"He's really excited about New Mexico, so he's trying to get them excited, too," Huss said. "To be able to play at a place where he trusts the coaching staff and has great facilities is a big deal to Darrington."

Hamga already had New Mexico among his top five or six, Huss said, along with Kentucky, UNLV, Memphis, Indiana and Florida. Steve Alford's old stop, Iowa, is listed in Jackson's top seven on Scout.com.

While Hamga and Jackson are more than a year away, coach Steve Alford can employ the talents of Hobson next season. Scout.com ranks Hobson the nation's 116th-best player. Hobson averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists per game, stats that give merit to Hobson's recent declaration that he's "a triple-double threat every time I step onto the floor."

Hobson is the second player UNM has announced as an official signee under Alford, but a University of New Mexico source said 6-8 forward Johnnie Harris out of Chipola (Fla.) Junior College signed with the Lobos last week.

"Darrington gives us a highly touted recruit who can play different guard positions," Alford said. "He has a great feel for the game and is really focusing on being a point guard. He has the skills and ability to give us a lot of size at the guard position."