Larra'aga Signing Proven Winners
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga is signing proven winners to the University of Miami men’s basketball program. This winter, UM’s most recent signees – Ja’Quan Newton, Ivan Cruz Uceda, James Palmer and Omar Sherman – have accumulated postseason hardware at their high school and junior college basketball championships.
Ja’Quan Newton
Ranked No. 58 in ESPN’s Top 100, Philadelphian Ja’Quan Newton of Neumann-Goretti High, is the premier player in Pennsylvania. He is ranked No. 1 in the state and is the 12th-best PG in the country, says ESPN.
After leading his team with an average of 21.7 points per game and to a 22-4 record, Newton was crowned the Catholic League MVP and to the All-Catholic First Team. Newton guided the Saints to a sixth-straight Catholic League Championship, defeating Roman Catholic 53-48. He scored 15 of his 23 points in second half to seal the victory—it was Newton’s fourth consecutive start in the Catholic League Championship game.
Newton’s perimeter scoring capability is an aspect of game Larrañaga hopes can replace the productivity of graduating seniors Rion Brown and Garrius Adams.
“He has become the leading scorer in his school’s history, and he is close to breaking the record to become the leading scorer in the history of the Catholic School League in Philadelphia,” Larrañaga said. “He’s competed against high-level competition and is a proven scorer.”
Newton secured a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs this weekend. Neumann-Goretti topped Berks Catholic 62-46.
Ivan Cruz Uceda
Ivan Cruz Uceda was born in Madrid, Spain, and has played the last two seasons at Harcum College, a junior college in Philadelphia. Harcum was ranked as high as No. 4 in the NJCAA rankings, finishing the season with an overall 29-3 record. Uceda, a 6-foot-10 center, averaged a double-double scoring 14.7 points per game and snatching 10.2 rebounds per game—both are team highs. He was efficient as well this season, converting over 62 percent of his field goal attempts.
“Ivan is a guy who can hit a spot-up three and he’s got very good hands around the basket,” Larrañaga said, describing Uceda’s versatility. “The thing I was most impressed about him is that he’s an excellent passer. I would consider him a smart player.”
Uceda’s experience at the JUCO level enticed the Hurricanes staff to offer him a scholarship. There will only be one senior on the roster next season and Uceda provides more veteran, upperclassman-type leadership.
“Ivan is a junior college player and we felt like we needed a couple more upperclassmen,” Larrañaga said. “I did not want to bring in six freshmen, it would just make us too young.”
The Spaniard started in all 32 games this season, including Harcum’s 77-73 loss to Westchester Community College in the NJCAA Region XV Championship. Uceda’s versatility was on full display in the championship—15 of his team-best 21 points came from behind the three-point line making five of his 10 tries. The center was just as effective in the paint, securing 12 rebounds, which were also a team high.
James Palmer
The Canes were able to secure Washington, D.C., guard James Palmer of St. John’s College High. ESPN ranked Palmer as the No. 1 player in the D.C. region.
“James Palmer is someone who plays in what I think is the best high school basketball league in the country,” described Larrañaga. “At 6-feet-5-inches he’s a very good shooter—like a Rion Brown—but, he also is an outstanding passer.”
Palmer is listed as a shooting guard with impressive size, averaging a team-high 15.7 points per game. St. John’s fell a game short of the D.C. State Athletic Association final, falling 84-77 to Theodore Roosevelt High in the semifinal. Palmer, still not even 18 years of age, led the Cadets to a successful regular season finishing at 27-4.
“He [Palmer] is young, he’s only just turned 17,” Larrañaga said. “When he comes in he’ll look like Manu Lecomte—baby-faced and doesn’t shave yet. He looks like he should be going into his junior year of high school rather than freshman year of college.”
Omar Sherman
There is a second center joining Larrañaga’s 2014 recruiting class, a three-star Texan named Omar Sherman from Duncanville High School, outside of Dallas. At 6-foot-9-inches, Sherman is the No. 10 recruit in Texas and No. 19 center in the country, as ranked by ESPN. After signing with Miami in September, Sherman paced Duncanville to a 20-12 season, leading the team with 17.1 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game.
“Sherman has a beautiful, soft, left-handed shooting touch from three-point range, kind of like a Kenny Kadji,” Larrañaga said. “He also has a nice low-post, left-handed jump hook game. And we felt as he got bigger and stronger, he could be a force offensively, but also a very good and serviceable rebounder.”
Sherman guided Duncanville to a birth in the regional quarterfinals of the Texas UIL Boys State Basektball Championships, where they ultimately lost to Hebron, 52-44.
The Hurricanes are expected to lose six players to graduation after this season, including leading scorer Rion Brown. But, Larrañaga and his staff have four incoming players that will be capable of filling that offensive void, as well as redshirts Sheldon McClellan, Angel Rodriguez and Deandre Burnett.
