Aztecs Snare Two Recruits for Basketball Program

San Diego State will receive letters of commitment this week from Jason Hamilton, a point guard who has been chosen as one of the five best players in the state of Washington this year by the Tacoma News-Tribune, and Deon Taylor, an off-guard from Florin High in Sacramento.

Although SDSU coaches cannot talk about recruits until they get the players’ signatures, each player’s high school coach said the paperwork was signed Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period for basketball.

Hamilton, from Hazen High in Renton, Wash., averaged 14 points, six rebounds and six assists a game as a junior.

“His best assets are his vision and quickness,” Hazen Coach John Ruby said. “He’s super quick. In the open court, he’s a heck of a threat because he can see what to do with the ball and he is talented enough to take it to the hole.”

Hamilton is 6 feet, 170 pounds and is a former ballboy for the Seattle SuperSonics.

“He can shoot it from three, but he’s not a selfish player,” Ruby said. “He knows the game well.”

Hamilton, who was all-Seamount League as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore, made official recruiting visits to Pepperdine, Santa Clara and Creighton.

“San Diego State was the only one who made him feel like, ‘You’re the guy we want,’ ” Ruby said.

Taylor, 6-2, averaged 13 points last year as a junior.

“He’s very athletic,” said Jim Smrekar, Florin coach. “He can run well, jump well, he’s strong and aggressive.”

In addition to SDSU, Taylor visited San Jose State.

“He’s one of the best I’ve coached,” Smrekar said. “He’s a hard worker, and I think he’s going to continue to improve. He’s very coachable.”

Smrekar said Taylor has already qualified for NCAA eligibility on his Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

Hamilton is waiting for both his SAT and ACT (American College Testing program) results, but Ruby said he didn’t anticipate a problem because Hamilton has a 3.0 grade-point average.

The current Aztecs open this season against the University of San Diego in the San Diego Sports Arena Nov. 22.