Mater Dei Gets Two Transfers

Two-time defending Southern Section Division I-A champion Mater Dei recently added two high-profile boys’ basketball transfers.

Shaun Michel, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Simi Valley, and Trevante Nelson, a 5-10 guard from Fontana, enrolled at Mater Dei over the last couple of weeks.

The players should help overcome the loss of swingman James Webster, who has transferred to Trabuco Hills, and guard Pat Hadden, who left for Woodbridge.

Michel and Nelson join a Mater Dei team that will have four of its top five players back for the 2000-01 season.

Michel, a senior, was a three-year starter at Simi Valley, where he averaged 7.3 points and 8.5 assists last season. Nelson, a sophomore, could be a key player in a year or two.

Monarch Coach Gary McKnight has seen quite a bit of Nelson, who played with Mater Dei’s summer league team last year before enrolling at Fontana.

“Down the road, I could see him being a main player for us,” McKnight said. “We’re all seniors this year practically, so it will be tough for him [to work his way into the starting lineup].”

McKnight said he hasn’t been able to assess Michel’s skills as well as Nelson’s.

“I haven’t seen enough of him to tell you,” McKnight said. “But just watching him in practice, he’s a strong kid, a thick kid. He’s not a teeny little guard. He can play three or four positions.”

Michel did not play for Simi Valley when the Pioneers lost to Mater Dei, 53-39, in the Division I-A championship game in March. He had quit the team Feb. 11.

Michel had been suspended for five games by Pioneer Coach Christian Aurand and benched during two other games for disciplinary reasons.