Former West Virginia guard Jabarie Hinds in on the move.
The 5-foot-11 point guard from Mount Vernon, N.Y., visited UMass last weekend and heads to St. Joe’s on Sunday. He is also considering Iona and Creighton.
Hinds spent time at UMass with friends Chaz Williams of Brooklyn and Derrick Gordon of Plainfield, N.J.
“It was good,” Hinds, 21, told SNY.tv of the UMass visit. “It was real good. I like the coaches there. I spent time with the players. Overall, the visit was good.”
He heads to St. Joe’s on Sunday.
“Me and [fellow West Virginia transfer] Aaron Brown [are] going on a visit,” Hinds said. “They called [Mount Vernon] coach [Bob] Cimmino.”
Located in New Rochelle, Iona is right next to Hinds’ hometown of Mount Vernon and would give him a chance to play in front of family and friends, but he said his mother is hesitant about him coming home.
“Yeah, my mom don’t really want me that close to home,” he said. “It’s wild back there, she thinks I’ll lose focus or something.”
He remains uncertain if he will visit the school that has been to two straight NCAA Tournaments.
“Iona is still available,” he said. “I’m still thinking if I’m going to visit or not.”
Creighton, which joins the Big East this coming season, has only spoken to Cimmino, Hinds added.
“They been showing interest,” he said. “I haven’t really been talking to them like that.”
Hinds said he’s basically considering UMass, St. Joe’s and Iona at this point.
“I may come back from the visit and just chose out of those two [UMass and St. Joe’s],” he said. “It’s going to be soon.”
Hinds averaged 7.4 points and 1.6 assists in 23 minutes last season under coach Bob Huggins.
After sitting out a year per NCAA rules, he says he’ll be ready to go in 2014.
“I’ve learned a lot of stuff,” he said. “When I get back on the court I will be straight business trying to make an impact for my team and trying to win some games wherever I’m at.”
Photo: LoHud.com
