The University of Maryland Eastern Shore hired Frankie Allen as head coach in April, leaving the ex-UMBC assistant just a few weeks to assemble a recruiting class before the end of the spring signing period.

A little more than a month later, Allen had put together his class, signing six prospects.

Joining Allen’s inaugural class for the Hawks are Tyler Hines (6-7, 220, PF/C, Sewell, N.J./Timber Creek H.S.), Mark Robertson (6-5, 215, SF/PF, Lakewood, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep), Christopher Conner (6-4, 210, SG/SF, Powell, Tenn./Hargrave Military Academy), Neal Pitt (6-6, 230, SF/PF, Ft. Washington, Md./Frederick C.C.), Hillary Haley (6-6, 210, SG/SF, Waldorf, Md./St. Bonaventure Univ.) and Samuel Obetoh (6-7, 190, SF, New York, N.Y./Washington Irving H.S./Boys' Club of New York).

Allen, who has also served as the head coach at Howard, Tennessee State and Virginia Tech, spoke with Recruiting Report recently about his first recruiting class at UMES.

Give us a brief overview of the class.

Well we had the opportunity to come here by being hired at the end of the first week of April, so we’ve got a lot of new faces -- a junior college player by the name of Neil Pitt, who we really feel is a strong addition to our program. A lot of the freshmen went to prep school, so they’re not the typical freshmen. But we’re going to be pretty young. There’s a solid nucleus that we recruited and we’re excited about this solid infusion of new blood coming into our program. I think we addressed our needs, got some size and scoring. We really feel these guys will be the nucleus of our program over the next three to four years.

What do you expect from Hines?

Tyler’s a rugged rebounder. I think Tyler will have an immediate impact on our team with his much-needed strength and size. He’s a strong player, 6’7", 220 pounds. I like the fact that he’s a solid, hungry aggressive rebounder. He has the ability to play the four or five position, with his strength and aggressiveness and size. I think he’ll have an opportunity to contribute right away in our program.

Robertson comes from one of the top East Coast basketball schools in the country in St. Benedict’s of Newark, N.J. How’d you land him?

One of my assistant coaches that I did retain, Shawn Smith, had been recruiting Mark. Obviously St. Benedict’s is a very strong program. We thought Mark was a versatile player who can play multiple positions. I like his athleticism, he has an excellent skill-set and will be a great addition to our team. He was a young man who visited with his mom and liked it and wanted to get in on the ground floor of a program going in a new direction. He had a good year last season and it’s one of the premier programs up there. He’s used to winning, and [it’s a major positive] when you bring in kids with a winning mentality to a program that’s not so used to winning. Mark’s used to going 30-5 every year, so he brings that winning mentality to the program.

Will Conner’s experience at Hargrave help ease his transition to the Division I level?

Oh yeah. Spending that year in prep school, they play against other top prep schools, also against some college freshmen or JV teams. Chris has the ability to stretch the defense. He‘s an excellent three-point shooter. I really think he’s improved his game by spending a year at prep school. He’s an outstanding shooter with deep range. The fact that they’re moving the three-point line back won’t affect him, and that was one of the biggest things that attracted me to him. He can stretch the defense and he won’t have to make a big adjustment [to the three-point line being moved back]. He still has solid three-point range. We’re really excited about Chris and what he brings to the table.

How did you get involved with Pitt and Haley and what do you expect from them?

When I was at UMBC as an assistant last year, we were recruiting Neil Pitt, and obviously recruiting changes back and forth. So I had seen him play and was aware of him. Neil is a big, strong combo forward who could play inside and out. I remember him from his high school days when I was coaching at Howard. I really felt he was somebody we should target with his ability. Bringing in a JUCO player from in-state really helped because it gave us an opportunity to give us a quality player with his skills and ability. He’s somebody we really feel good about with a young team and all the freshmen. Neil has played at the college level for two years. He brings the ability to score on the block and wing. He has size and strength and a little bit of leadership. I consider him a veteran player. He’s played a lot of basketball and we’re really excited about all the things Neil brings to the table.

I tried to recruit Hillary Haley when I was at Howard a few years ago, but St. Bonaventure was obviously a good distance from home. The assistant is a good friend of mine and had recruited Hillary for [the Bonnies’] previous head coach and was retained. It works out well for Hillary coming back close to home. I think Hillary really sees this program going to a different direction, moving up and on. I think they really have confidence that this will be a successful program. They’re really attracted to the school, the setting, the small-town atmosphere where the college is the focal point of everything that goes on. They really feel he’ll get the attention and academic support they need. With the NCAA residency rule, he has to sit out a year, but he’s going to be an outstanding performer for us. ... He played some significant minutes and made significant contributions at St. Bonaventure last year, but he had the opportunity to come back and be closer to home and being a part of our program, which was very attractive to him. So he’s a complete player and we’ll utilize all of his skills. He’s long and athletic. The fact that he has to sit out a year will help his growth and development ... and we’ll have an outstanding player for three years.

How important is it to land in-state guys like Pitt and Haley?

I think you’ve got to have a philosophy of recruiting inside and out. We’ve got good players in the Delmarva peninsula. You want to get kids from in-state -- [like] Hillary from the metro Washington, D.C. area. Same thing with Neil. Neil went to junior college in-state. I think that speaks well. People always want to recruit within a 250- to 300-mile radius where friends and family can see them play. But you want to get top-notch players. In Neil and Hillary, we were able to do that. Once you get those guys to come, it sort of opens doors for others to follow in terms of recruiting that area. We want to try to establish a philosophy of recruiting inside the state and in the Delmarva peninsula. Within a three-and-a-half hour drive, there are some pretty good basketball players that you can go out and recruit.

Talk about Obetoh and what he’s done since graduating high school.

He played AAU ball. We saw him in April at the Charlie Weber AAU event down in the D.C. area and he was playing for an AAU program out of New York. He’s just a skilled wing man that runs the floor and finishes in transition. He’ll give us another proven scorer on the wing. He has great athleticism. He can probably play either forward position. Sammy was sort of under-the-radar. He only played AAU ball during the summer, that’s when he was really getting noticed. Some of the people that saw him at AAU [tournaments] tried to get in late, but he came in for a visit and liked the program, liked the things we’re stressing. He came down this summer and got involved in summer school, worked out in the weight room, [started] getting stronger, those types of things. I think Sammy is somebody that’s best ball is ahead of him. I think at 6’7", 190 [pounds], he’ll put on the necessary strength. He has great skills and is athletic. Those are the type of guys we try to recruit at this level. We feel confident he’ll develop into a combo forward that can play and contribute before his career is done here.

Which of these guys do you expect to contribute immediately?

Well I’d say Neil because of the fact that he’s a two-year junior college performer and he’s so versatile. He can do so many things. He’s the type of kid that can play inside-out, can be a 3 or a power forward at the 4. As far as immediate impact, JUCO is still considered college basketball. [Neil comes in] a little bit stronger and older ... so he should have an immediate impact. Other players, as they become older and become more familiar with our style [will contribute]. Once we get into conference play, hopefully we will have developed. [Our newcomers are] obviously talented, so it’s just a matter of playing in our system and working as a team to develop. These kids that came down in the summer showed an ability and work ethic by going in the weight room with the strength and conditioning. [Those guys] bonded a little bit. I think we’re going to be a team that’s going to get better and better as the season goes along. With young kids … it takes a while for development, but the talent is there. We’re excited about our prospects for having a successful season this year

You started as head coach in April. How did you put the class together so quickly? Was it pretty hectic?

It was, but the fact that I’ve been coaching for a long time and have a lot of contacts and had a lot of people excited about the opportunity here [made recruiting easier]. So I had a lot of my friends in the coaching profession call me and tell me about kids under the radar or kids we needed to take a look at. We were able to get a kid, Tim Burns, to transfer in from High Point. An assistant down there called me about him. He’s from New Jersey, was down in North Carolina, and wanted to get a little bit closer to home. He’s somebody who’s going to sit out next year and have two years left. But those things [are typical in recruiting]. It was hectic, but a lot of times going into a new program, there’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. At UMES, with this administration, the president, athletic director, people on the board, and on the search committee that hired me, they are really going to make a concerted effort to put the resources into the program to do the things you have to for you to move forward. I’ve got a strong staff and we know recruiting is the lifeblood of a program. We had a successful first time out, and we’re just trying to build from that. Hopefully through the grace of God and a lot of hard work we can really establish the program next year as one that’s going to be up-and-coming.