SHORELINE — About this time last year, Sunri Nicholas was hawking hardware at an office supplies store, trying to stash away some funds for the future.
Basketball was merely a hobby — and passion — for the West Seattle native.
Nicholas filled his off hours playing pick-up ball at recreation centers and other dim gyms, which is exactly where Shoreline Community College’s coaches found the rugged, 6-foot-10 workhorse.
“It took me half a rec game to realize I wanted him,” first-year head coach Jeff Menday said.
Though it was getting late in the recruiting season, Nicholas was also drawing attention from a handful of rival colleges.
“We were in competition with a few other schools to get him,” Menday said. “I knew we’d lose him if we didn’t move quickly.”
The school helped Nicholas set up a financial assistance package, including a partial athletic scholarship and a no-interest loan from the Shoreline Community College Foundation.
“I was looking to get back into school but I had kind of given up on playing basketball,” Nicholas confessed. “It just happened to be the perfect opportunity at the right time.”
So at age 24, Nicholas finally launched his first venture into the world of organized basketball. And thus far, the former prep football star and computer salesman has taken a megabyte out of the competition.
Through last weekend, Nicholas is averaging a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds per game as a force in the middle for a youthful Shoreline squad. Both numbers rank him among the conference leaders.
“Down low, the only one who stops Sunri is Sunri,” Menday said. “He’s very tough.”
Nicholas is blocking nearly two shots per game and is shooting 63 percent from the field, while continually expanding his litany of post moves.
A second-chance player himself, second-chance baskets naturally became Nicholas’ specialty.
“Being a big man, you kind of work for your points,” said Nicholas, who since high school has grown a few inches and slimmed down from 310 pounds to a brawny 255.
“Our offense is pretty much tailored to Collin (Waterton), Mandell (Jones) and Jorge (Williams). That’s fine with me. I’m there if they need me. If they’re knocking down shots, I’m happy to watch.”
Most of Nicholas’ teammates are also adjusting to playing in a structured setting for the first time.
Only three Dolphins have high school basketball experience. The rest, like Nicholas, are a hodgepodge of street ballers and playground warriors whose backgrounds are as varied as a new set of “Survivor” castaways.
And like their main man in the middle, the Dolphins got off to a late start before bouncing back.
After dropping 10 of their first 12 games, the Dolphins ended last week tied for fifth in the NWAACC North Division. The top four finishers in each region advance to the 16-team NWAACC championships, March 7-10 in the Tri Cities.
Shoreline’s schedule could work to its advantage. While they’ve scraped together just one road win this season, the Dolphins are 4-1 on their home floor since beginning league play.
Starting with a Feb. 15 rematch against first-place Whatcom, the Dolphins (5-6 league, 7-13 overall) close out the regular season with three of four at home.
Paced by 29 points and nine boards in 24 minutes from Nicholas, the Dolphins posted their biggest upset of the season last week, shocking second-place Bellevue 102-93 Feb. 5.
Two of Shoreline’s past three losses were by five points or less.
“We’re young and we don’t know how to win the close games,” Nicholas said. “That’s what we’re working on. If we could do that, we’d be right up there with the top teams in the NWAACC.”
There isn’t a single sophomore on this year’s roster and Nicholas intimated that the nucleus has plans to return for one more season.
But for now, the onetime rec center standouts are savoring the progress they’ve already made.
“It’s nice to sit back and think, ‘Hey, we’re freshmen and we’ve never played ball and we’re beating sophomore teams,’” Nicholas said. “It’s nice.”
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