Monday, April 13, 2015

Elliott Pitts & Noah Allen

So do Elliott Pitts at Arizona and UCLA's Noah Allen remain at their respective locations or move on to situations where they will play more?

Each knew that playing time would be limited when they chose their college destinations and had no expectations of turning the college basketball world upside down by quickly becoming an integral player.

A 6-foot-5, 185 De La Salle grad, Pitts will be entering his junior year come September. This season, he was on the court for just under 15 minutes a game and averaged 3.5 points per contest, shooting 39%, 37% and 79% respectively. 74 of his 109 shot attempts were three-pointers. His playing time was lengthier early on due to the ineligibility of shooting guard Gabe York, who will be a senior in 2015-16. Pitts has been publicly credited all season for his defensive effort.

6-foot-5 Alonzo Trier is verbally committed to Sean Miller and he is one of the elite guard prospects in the nation, with the expectation of being a Day One starter. 6-foot-5 Justin Simon is another heralded talent headed to Tucson although questions remain regarding his shooting consistency. However, there is no doubt about his ball skills and athletic prowess.

A couple of Elite Eight finishes have certainly buoyed Pitts' hoops enjoyment and there is no indication he is going anywhere else. But his playing time will again be limited should he remain and that seemingly is fine with him.

Allen is 6-foot-6 215 and also will be a junior come next season. He averaged 11.4 minutes an outing and 1.3 points plus 1.8 boards a game, shooting 28%, 16% and 52% respectively.

Norman Powell is graduating from the Bruin backcourt but 6-foot-3 Bryce Alford and 6-foot-4 Isaac Hamilton return for their junior years and well-regarded 6-foot-4 Prince Ali has also signed to come to Westwood out of the prep ranks. 6-foot-6 Kobe Parras has already given a verbal to the Bruins although he is a 2016 talent.

It doesn't look promising if increased playing time is Allen's desire but, again, there are no indications he is departing.

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Both would be enjoying starting positions by now if they had decided to instead go Big West Conference or Mountain West Conference. WCC too with certain members of that league. But we need to always keep in mind that there are multiple factors in pledging to a basketball program and playing time is just one of them.

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