Not much could have lightened Hastings basketball coach Darrell Collins’ mood Saturday afternoon – except talking about Chris Iles.

Even in light of losing the Texas Championship game of the Houston vs. The Nation basketball tournament, 47-38 to Kingwood at the Aldine Campbell Center, Collins couldn’t hide the smiles as he discussed Iles, his senior point guard.

For his achievements in the tournament, in which he scored 38 points in two victories, Iles is the College Ball or Bust.com Athlete of the Week.

“I don’t know if I have enough time,” Collins replied when asked to describe what Iles means to the Bears (17-5). “He does a little bit of everything. He’s really really quiet but he produces on the court. When he’s called on to score, he scores. When he’s called on to dish, he dishes. He gets in there and competes.”

That part of his game isn’t a departure from his game, but a lot else is.

Iles, a four-year letterwinner who played two seasons at Westbury Christian before transferring to Hastings, was strictly a point guard last year for the regional semifinalist Bears.

But that was when his guard counterpart was B.J. Holmes, who left Hastings as its all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals. Then not only did Holmes graduate and head off to play for Texas A&M, but coach Johnny Carter left and was replaced by Collins, fresh off one year at Fort Bend Bush and five at Texas City.

Collins immediately implemented a different system, including among other things a triangle offense.

“He (Iles) took to it like a duck out of water,” Collins said. “He was kind of a quiet superstar so he was one of the last guys to take to me. He’s not going to rush into anything unconsciously, so he was quiet and standoffish a little but. But he and I now talk all the time.”

That Collins let Iles enjoy an adjustment period benefited both their relationship and the latter’s play.

He’s been a focal point all season. He scored a season-best 26 points three weeks ago against Alief Taylor.

Iles scored 19 points Thursday against Aldine and another 19 Friday against Bellaire. Kingwood didn’t forget about Iles Saturday, holding him to six points on 3-of-10 shooting.

“It’s a good system. It’s more of a team system,” Iles said. “Last year me and B.J. got everything going. I was mostly off the ball getting somebody open for somebody else.”

The hardest part for the soft-spoken Iles, though, is not being soft-spoken.

“I have to be more vocal this year,” Iles said. “Last year it was doing what I do. Now it’s do what I do and make sure everyone else does what they do too.”

Iles is fielding offers from a slew of mid-major Division I schools, including some in the Atlantic 10, Sun Belt and Southland conferences.

”He’s going to be a great basketball player for some college,” Collins said.

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