Collins adds key piece to Ags’ puzzle
COLLEGE STATION — Guard Danuel House hit Anthony Collins with a one-two punch of nostalgia and pragmatism when convincing his old gradeschool mate last year to join him at Texas A&M.
“I would love to reunite with you — just like when we played together in middle school,” House smooth-talked Collins, before adding, “besides, we need a good guard.”
House’s sales pitch worked last April, and the Aggies began
benefitting in November with the addition of the former Westbury Christian High standout.
Collins is a senior who transferred from South Florida and was eligible immediately because he’d graduated from college.
“Defensively, he’s one of the more underrated guards in the country,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said.
The Aggies will lean on Collins’ defense against No. 14 Kentucky on Saturday in Reed Arena. The Wildcats (20-6, 10-3) lead the SEC; the Aggies (19-7, 8-5) are tied for third with South Carolina and Florida.
“We’re competing for a conference championship,” Kennedy said. “And when you say you’re competing for a conference championship with five games left in conference play, that’s where we want to be every year. Because you’re usually going to be competing for that against Kentucky.”
Defensive ace
Collins will be charged with guarding the Wildcats’ Tyler Ulis, a candidate for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. Collins is coming off one of his best games as an Aggie, limiting Mississippi’s Stefan Moody to 17 hard-earned points, after Moody finished 5-of-19 from the field with Collins in his face for much of the 40 minutes.
“They’re both ball-dominant guards,” Collins said in comparing Moody and Ulis. “So I don’t really have to do too much different defensively. They’ll both drive, but the difference is Moody will shoot it every time and Ulis will look to pass.”
Moody leads the SEC in scoring at 23 points per game; Ulis is tops in assists at 6.8 per contest (along with ranking seventh in scoring at 16 ppg).
Collins’ value to the Aggies was evident a week ago in A&M’s 76-71 loss at LSU. He exited the game only five minutes in with a stomach virus, and senior Alex Caruso was left running the offense the rest of the way.
Caruso (6-5, 186) is a big guard better suited for playing on the perimeter; the Aggies need the speedy Collins’ compact size (6-1, 184) against fellow compact guards like Moody and Ulis.
“We don’t have to scramble as much defensively, because we know we have someone who’s laterally as quick as the other team’s quickest player,” House said. “That matchup is now canceled.”
Collins and House attended Welch Middle School on Houston’s southwest side together before House went to Fort Bend Hightower and Collins moved to Westbury Christian. But the two stayed in touch.
Collins started 98 games at South Florida over four years and received a medical redshirt following the 2013-14 season because of a knee injury. As a freshman in 2012, he played a key role in the Bulls’ run to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
But Collins described the program as “starting over from scratch” last year under new coach Orlando Antigua, and it was time to move on.
“Being an older guy, there was no starting from scratch for me,” Collins said Friday. “It was a common-sense thing for me (to transfer).”
A word from the wise
That’s when he fielded a call from House, himself a transfer from the University of Houston, and the former Welch running buddies make up half of the Aggies’ four senior starters.
A&M is on course to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, and Collins’ experience should be valuable for teammates who have never made the field.
“No. 1, Anthony is a really good defender, and No. 2, he’s getting more comfortable offensively,” Kennedy said. “You see him attacking the paint, and we’re doing more things to help him get in the paint. He’s a big key to our team.”