The Coastal Carolina basketball program added a third player to its 2011 incoming recruiting class as Warren Gillis -- a 6-foot 3, 200-pound guard from Philadelphia -- signed a national letter of intent to join the Chanticleers, it was announced Thursday.
Gillis averaged 24.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists during a prep school season at Philadelphia's Rise Academy after previously spending four years at Academy of the New Church High School. In the end, he chose CCU over offers from Southern Mississippi and Xavier (among others) and hopes to compete for a starting role at the two-guard position in his first collegiate season.
"I liked basically everything," Gillis said of taking an official visit to CCU at the end of March. "I feel I fit well with the team, coming in as a two-guard. It's a team on the rise [that] won the past two conference championships in the regular season and just needs a final push for the tournament."
Gillis made a big push of his own over the last year, noting that he went from averaging nine points a game as a high school senior to more than doubling that at Rise Academy. Among his highlights last season, he scored 31 points against national power Findlay Prep, 29 against Brehm Prep and 27 against Brewster Academy. He said his strength is his mid-range game.
Rise Academy coach Vin Sparacio, meanwhile, talked about Gillis' court presence, his ability to elevate the players around him and other such intangibles.
"What I've been telling everybody about Warren as a player, he's almost like a [college] sophomore already, maturity-wise, discipline-wise," Sparacio said over the phone. "He's very self-motivated. Honestly, I can go on and on about him ...
"He's very focused on what he's trying to do with basketball."
Gillis said he didn't know much about Coastal Carolina until Chants assistant coach Gus Hauser started recruiting him in March.
"We heard about him through some scouting services that we work with," Hauser said. "I went down to an event in Sarasota, Florida, in early March and saw him play and really, really loved the way he played. I just loved the way he played, loved how unselfish he was, loved how strong he was. We think he'll be a great player in our league and a guy that we're really excited about having here for four years."
Hauser described Gillis as a left-handed versatile scorer who can knock down the outside shot and who will have an opportunity to make an immediate impact.
"He has a really, really high basketball IQ, which will pay off big for him as a freshman because he'll jump into our system and [CCU coach Cliff Ellis'] teaching and there's a lot to absorb early on," Hauser said. "I think he'll be prepared to jump into what coach expects him to do."
Said Sparacio: "They basically said that he'll be able to play early, he'll be able to play through his mistakes early and he has a bright future there."
Gillis also made a point to mention that he was impressed by the accounting program at Coastal and plans to pursue that path academically. And after keeping his options open all year, he's happy to have a final decision on his basketball future.
"It's a big relief," Gillis said. "It's been on my mind for a while. Now I have to focus on getting ready for next year."
Gillis will join fellow incoming freshman Tyler Poole (Hickory, N.C.) and junior college transfer William Kirksey (Southwestern Illinois College) as new additions to the roster next season. The Chants lose senior forward Chad Gray and junior guard Desmond Holloway (who announced last month he was leaving to pursue a professional career) in addition to senior forward Mike Holmes (who left the program in January) from a team that finished 28-6 last season and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament.
"I think it's really tough to find a guy like Warren this late, and we were really blessed to get involved with him and really blessed he's coming to our program," Hauser said.
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
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