“I knew I could play (at the) DII and DIII levels because I’ve (played against players in those divisions) in open gyms and stuff,” Echols said.

After two years playing at Skyline College, Echols accepted a full-ride scholarship to Houston Baptist University. Echols said the school really started recruiting him heavily last summer and talked to him some more when the team came to the Bay Area to play Santa Clara University.

Echols will be reunited with former high school and Skyline teammate Mario Flaherty, who signed with the Huskies out of Skyline last year. The Huskies are members of the Great West Conference and they struggled this past season, their second at the Division I level, going 5-25.

No problem. Echols is used to pushing teams to heights not reached in a while. His senior year at Mills, he was instrumental in leading the Vikings to a quarterfinal upset of Serra in the Central Coast Section playoffs. In his two years at Skyline, the Trojans reached the playoff both seasons, improving their record each year.

The Huskies are getting a player who can fill a stat sheet. Echols, a second-team All Coast Conference player, averaged 10 points, 4 assists, nearly 4 rebounds and nearly 4 steals per game. He was second in the state in steals and 23rd in assists. In two years, he started every game.

Unlike a lot of players who believe their only avenue to college is to fill up the hoop, Echols was known more as a standout defender who did everything to make his teammates better.

“I knew we had guys who could score. I really didn’t feel like I had to force scoring to win,” Echols said. “I had thoughts I wanted to keep playing basketball (after high school), but I didn’t want to change (my game) just to get a scholarship. I just stuck to what I do and it paid off.”

Echols is that success story that proves paying your dues at the junior college level pays off with scholarships at the end of two years. Many local athletes look down their noses at the junior college level, as if that level of play is beneath them. It’s still a step up from high school and many high school players can’t even hack it at the junior college level. Echols had the grades to go to a four-year school out of high school, but lacking any solid basketball leads, he enrolled at Skyline.

“Coming out of high school, people think, ‘I’m going DI.’ It’s much harder (than they think),” Echols said. “The JC route really, really prepares you. I think it’s a great tool.

“A lot of people knock JC. They say, ‘You’re not good enough, that’s why you’re here.’ In the long run, it’s bettering your opportunities. It gives you more time to hone your skills. It’s hard to get up and go (to play college basketball) out of high school. There’s a lot to learn.”

Echols is not one of those athletes, however, that believes he’s owed a scholarship. He’s humbled and awed by the fact he’s become only the second person in his family to earn an athletic scholarship — his maternal grandfather, Blaine Hendricks, was a three-sport star at University of Montana. Echols also realizes basketball is his chance to get his education paid for, which is more important than the game. He realized that at an early age when he was forbidden from playing basketball in the sixth grade because of poor marks in the classroom. Since then, it’s been 3.0 grade point averages or better.

In fact, Echols was named to the Student-Athlete Academic Achievement list each semester at Skyline and was awarded the Garlington Award, given to the top male student-athlete on campus.

“Basketball is the love of my life, but that’s going to end (one day),” Echols said. “I’m using basketball like it’s using me. Like my mom always tells me, ‘You’ll always have a degree.’”

Until that time, however, Echols is going to keep playing until someone tells him he can’t anymore. The dream to play professionally is closer than ever and there are a ton of options other than the NBA — overseas, for example.

“That’s been a dream (to play professionally), to make it to that point,” Echols said. “I’m that much closer.”

As Echols has proven every step of the way, there is more than one way to reach a goal.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.