HU’s roster filled with new pieces and they’re beginning to mesh

Stepping into the starting point-guard role was as much necessity as it was opportunity for Hampton sophomore Russell “Deuce” Dean.

Graduations already set the stage for Dean’s new starting role, but a season-ending injury to backup point guard Amir Nesbitt meant Dean’s minutes would be inflated to the max.

Dean, a 6-foot-4 native of Columbia, South Carolina, leads the Big South Conference in minutes per game, at 36.6, while guiding the Pirates to a 3-4 record with two straight wins ahead of back-to-back home contests against Gardner-Webb today and Thursday.

“Deuce is a general,” Hampton coach Buck Joyner said. “He runs the show.”

And for a fresh full-time starter, he’s run it well. Dean’s assist-turnover ratio (1.8) — a vital stat for a point guard’s efficiency — ranks second in the conference, but it’s his 11.3 points per game that have been a pleasant surprise.

Dean scored the winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left in a 70-68 win at Charleston Southern to finish with a career-high 19 points.

“I’m not gonna say I didn’t know he could score the ball as well as he can, but at the end of the day, he’ll do what the team needs,” Joyner said. “I like the way he’s matured his sophomore year with us not having backup. The more we put on his back, the better he’s coming out.”

Only 3-point maven Chris Shelton (12.4) and senior Davion Warren (17.6) average more points per game than Dean.

Warren was the team’s highest returning scorer from a season ago, and Joyner knew Warren’s production would be a cornerstone to the Pirates’ success this year with so many new faces.

With each successive game, Warren has improved. In the season-opening win against George Washington, Warren matched a career high with 20 points before eclipsing that two