Men's Hoops Sends All 4 Sophomores To Universities

It was perfect 4-for-4 for head coach Ryan Frazer as he saw all four of his Pasadena City College men's basketball sophomores accept playing scholarships to 4-year universities.

Jalen Vazquez, who earned the Thomas O. Mallory Scholarship from PCC Athletics, is going to NCAA Division I Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). A 2-year, starting, 6-foot-3 point guard on the Lancers, he was selected to the All-South Coast Conference North Division team as a sophomore as he led the state in assists this past season at a 7.9 per game average. He finished at #2 on the Lancers all-time assists list with 379. Vazquez also averaged 11.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals as a sophomore. He accomplished the first-ever, triple-double in PCC Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium'a 25-year history in the team's season-opening win over El Camino. Vazquez posted 18 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. 

Vazquez will play as a junior for a Lehigh program that is part of the Patriot League as the Mountain Hawks faced the likes of UCLA and Georgetown just last season in non-conference competition. He will be guided by long-time Lehigh HC Brett Reed, who famously directed his squad to an upset of #2 seed Duke at the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

The Lancers group also includes All-State selection and wing Dylan Swillis, who is headed to Division II Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. The 6-foot-5 Swillis recently received the Jackie Robinson Top Performance Award from PCC Athletics after a 2-year PCC run in which he helped the Lancers twice reach the Round 2 of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. 

Swillis was first named an All-SCC First Team choice and he became the program's first All-State selection in 11 years. In his final Lancers game, Swillis poured in 41 points in a Round 2 Regional Playoffs loss to Citrus. He is only the seventh player to ever score 40 in any PCC game, reaching a new PCC postseason high. Swillis finished his PCC career with 860 points, placing him #21 on the Lancers All-Time Scoring List. 

Kaiden Fine, a 6-2 starting wing, is on his way to Division II Cal State Los Angeles after averaging 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest as a PCC sophomore. Fine shot an outstanding 84.3 percent from the free throw line.

Adrian Hernandez, a 6-foot shooting guard who played just one season for the Lancers, takes his talents to Lincoln University (Oakland). Hernandez' best game for PCC was when he scored 18 points and swished six 3-pointers in the team's 24-25 season opener. 

"We're obviously very pleased that we could move all of our sophomores to the next level," Frazer said. "Jalen and Dylan as well as Kaiden were big parts of two winning teams for us. Both Jalen and Dylan put up numbers that go down high in PCC men's basketball history. Adrian restarted his 4-year path by playing for us after he transferred from Bethesda University. This should be an encouraging sign for our returning sophomores next season as well as our future recruits. That's been one of my goals to get our student-athletes exposure and be able to use PCC as a stepping stone in both the educational and athletics journey."