Depiro sign US forward Alfred Hollins Jr

Third US import player on Baldacchino’s squad

BOV Men’s Division One side SiGMA Depiro announced their latest signing – US forward Alfred Hollins Jr on Monday.

Speaking through a club statement, coach Ruben Baldacchino welcomed the new import player calling him ‘the right player at the right time’.

“(Hollins JR) is a great player that comes from top college teams in the US,” the statement read.

“He will definitely be an important addition to our squad in our bid to challenge for honours this season. He is the right player at the right time.”

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The 6’6 player joins the Mtarfa club on the back of experience in Zambia with the Munali Suns where he played in both games of the Road to BAL (Basketball Africa League) and finished with an average of 10.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds average.

Before that, Hollins Jr played in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA)’s top echelons at Oregon State University and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). With the Oregon State Beavers, the then Junior finished his stint with 31 games (29 started) under his belt. He averaged 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocked shots in 19.3 minutes per game.

He then moved to El Paso to join the UTEP Miners for his senior year and played 33 games (five started) for an average of 16.2 minutes on court. There he averaged 4.9 points, three rebounds, and just 1.03 turnovers a game.

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The 25-year-old now joins a Depiro side which has had mixed fortunes so far this season despite significant investment from the club into its teams over the summer. After re-signing US players Kameron Rooks and Cameron Cornelius, the Mtarfa side added Nikola Bozovic and Bogdan Mrkojevic from Division Two side Balkan Fusion and Nenad Bukva from Mellieha Libertas.

Since then Rooks has been the team’s most influential performer with an average of 29 points, 25.4 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks a game. However, he has had to go out of his comfort zone, being kept on court for an average of 39.06 minutes a game.

The signing of another big may be the ideal balance as Depiro push for a better second half to the season after they won just two of seven games so far.

Hollins Jr is only the second winter signing in the Maltese league after Hibernians added Nick Brennen to their roster on New Year’s Eve, as a replacement for the injured Calvin Whipple.