Colony standout signs to play at University of Alaska Anchorage

PALMER — Colony High School boys basketball head coach Tom Berg won’t hesitate to pull out the yellow legal pad. He’s a pros and cons guy. Berg will draw a line down the center of the page and list the positives and negatives of a potential decision.

When Colony senior Damien Fulp was ready to sit down and discuss an offer that would allow him to take a step to the college level, Berg was ready to put together that list of pros and cons.

When they were finished, there was an awful lot of support in the pros column, and the decision will allow Fulp to continue his basketball career in his home state.

Fulp, a Colony High boys basketball standout, recently signed his National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage and play basketball for the Division II Seawolves.

“When we sat down and looked, there weren’t many cons,” Berg said. “We sat down, and said, what’s good about it? Style of play, excitement for the new arena, the opportunity to play right away, the opportunity to train without having to worry about flying down to get someplace. In the spring, when they’re having their workouts, he can get into Anchorage and really get after it.”

UAA is a program in a very strong Division II league, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Seawolves have made recent runs in the Division II national tournament, and host Division I teams annually in the Great Alaska Shootout. A new facility on campus, the Alaska Airlines Arena, is also being built and will be the Seawolves’ home court starting next fall. All were certain pros, Berg said, along with the opportunity to play less than an hour away from Valley friends and family.

Berg said Fulp, the reigning Northern Lights Conference Player of the Year, has long been on UAA’s radar.

“They started looking him when he was playing for me as a sophomore. Any college coach knows, especially with a local team, if a young kid shows a lot of talent, they’ll certainly watch him,” Berg said.

As Fulp continued to establish himself as an elite player in the conference for a team that finished perfect during the regular season in the NLC, UAA became more interested, Berg said.

“Last year, especially the second half of the year when he was so good, they got real interested,” Berg said. “He’s had unbelievable success at the high school level, and he still has a year left.”

By signing Fulp, UAA lands a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged 14.4 points, 4.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals as a junior. In addition to NLC POY and first-team NLC honors, he was also named second-team All-State by the Alaska Basketball Coaches Association.

“We are very excited to add Damien to our program,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a UAA athletics press release. “We feel his is a great fit and will continue the line of tremendous local guards in our program. As he continues to mature physically and adjusts to the speed and size of the college game, we expect him to follow in the footsteps of current players like Travis Thompson and Kyle Fossman. His ability to play both positions — plus his outstanding shooting ability — fit perfectly into what we do offensively.”

Thompson (Dimond High School) and Fossman (Haines High School) are also former Alaska high school standouts.

Berg also believes Fulp has the ability to follow the likes of Thompson and Fossman and be the next Alaska product to excel in the UAA green and gold.

“I think they see him as an excellent shooter. UAA likes to shoot it quickly and isn’t afraid to put up the three-pointer. These are all things Damien has been successful with,” Berg said.

Fulp is currently listed at 6-1, but Berg said he would not be surprised if Fulp hit 6-3 or 6-4. His overall potential, factoring in size and ability, makes him a threat at both guard positions, Berg said.

“He’ll be a tough matchup at either the 1 or 2,” Berg said.

One of the biggest positives, Berg said, is Fulp’s opportunity to train with the Seawolves following the conclusion of the high school season.

“One advantage for Damien, because we’re so close — we’re done in March — he could be training in Anchorage in April,” Berg said. “April through October, that’s seven months. That’s almost a red-shirt season, if he plays his cards right.”

Fulp was UAA’s first signee of the early period.

“They were really up front about it,” Berg said. “He was at the top of their list, in terms of kids from Alaska.”