Gonzaga C Oliver Ellison, Gwynn Park G Brandon Ford commit to Howard U.

It was a big week for Howard University's basketball team, as first-year coach Kevin Nickelberry and his staff landed a pair of local recruits.

Earlier last week, the Bison got a verbal commitment from Gonzaga center Oliver Ellison. And this past Thursday night, Howard got a pledge from Gwynn Park point guard Brandon Ford, who in the fall had committed to Loyola.

Along with Largo forward Brandon Bailey, that gives Howard three local high school seniors who plan to enroll as freshman next school year.

"They finally got some local recruiters," Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner said, noting that assistant coaches Travis Lyons and Keith Coutreyer have longstanding ties to the area. Lyons is a DeMatha graduate and Coutreyer previously was the coach at Laurel High.

Those local ties were especially handy when it came to recruiting Ford. Nickelberry and Gwynn Park Coach Mike Glick once were assistant coaches together at Columbia Union College, when Coutreyer played for the school. When Glick was hired as the head coach at Pallotti, Nickelberry came along as his assistant.