On Tuesday night, Sacred Heart received another commitment for the class of 2021.
Dominic Mello, a six foot, two inch point guard from Wareham, Mass. will come to the Pioneers from St. George’s prep school in Middletown, R.I. Mello chose the Pioneers over New Hampshire and Bryant, where he also held offers.
Mello averaged close to 12 points and 4 assists per game last season for St. George’s while having a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio.
According to scouts, the southpaw guard has the ability to score the ball at all three levels and will provide another quality guard to a Sacred Heart program that has had a recent track record of success with guards, such as Phil Gaetano, Cane Broome, and Cam Parker.
“There aren’t many guys in New England who have a quicker crossover than he does and he can use it to get all the way to the rim or create space for his jumper,” said Adam Finkelstein, a scouting and recruiting analyst for ESPN and founder of The New England Recruiting Report.
Mello now joins Raymond Espinal-Guzman as recruits to join Anthony Latina’s squad next season. Espinal-Guzman committed to the Pioneers on Oct. 12. Mello is currently the 35th ranked recruit in the New England region while Espinal-Guzman is 29th.
As the 2020-21 college basketball season approaches, it’s been ruled that this upcoming, unprecedented season will not count against a player’s four years of eligibility, meaning next season will create a gridlock of players on a program’s roster.
For all schools, including Sacred Heart, they will be allowed a one-time exception next season to have more than the maximum amount of scholarship players on the roster. Since the Pioneers would be preparing to lose two scholarship players (Alex Watson, Zach Radz) after this season, the team can bring in two additional scholarship players outside of their usual 13, even if Watson and Radz decide to use their extra year of eligibility next season.
In other words, the addition of Espinal-Guzman and Mello would bring the Pioneers’ scholarship count for the 2021-22 season at 14 should Watson and Radz return for an additional season.
