Jamelle Hagins and Devon Saddler will likely be more acquainted than any other pair of Sixers to take the floor Saturday for the team's Las Vegas Summer League opener.
Sure, Nerlens Noel, Jerami Grant and K.J. McDaniels have played together in Orlando this past week. Brandon Davies and Adonis Thomas also played two games with each other for the Sixers last year.
But Hagins and Saddler spent three years as teammates at the University of Delaware from 2010-13.
“We’ve been catching up on a lot of things,” Saddler said. “I haven’t seen him in a year, so it’s been a fun time and we’ve been spending a lot of time together.”
Saddler, a 6-foot-2 guard, led the Blue Hens last season to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999 and will be getting his first taste of professional action in Las Vegas.
Hagins, a 6-foot-9 forward and 2013 grad, is a bit more seasoned. He played for the Nets and Heat in last year’s summer league before moving on to Chorale de Roanne of the French league and Rio Grande of the D-League.
Both players have enjoyed being teammates again during the Sixers’ pre-Vegas minicamp that ended on Thursday.
“It’s been refreshing,” Hagins said Thursday after practice. “To see how much he’s improved since I left has been really good. He finds me a lot [on the floor], and I know where he likes to get the ball.”
In the three years Hagins and Saddler spent together at Delaware, the Blue Hens improved each season but never finished better than 19-14. It wasn’t until Hagins graduated that Saddler and the Hens really took off, winning the CAA tournament and qualifying for the Big Dance last season.
Hagins didn’t have time to speak to any of his former teammates while he was in France, but he enjoyed following their postseason run. When he arrived back in the U.S. to join the D-League, he made sure to call Saddler to catch up.
“[Delaware] getting that championship that they got, I’m happy for them. I just wish I could have been a part of it,” Hagins said. “We stayed in touch a little bit. I talked to him a couple times here and there to check on him.”
Although it will be a challenge for either guy to make the team’s final roster, both feel good about the way they are playing at this stage in their careers.
With a year of professional experience under his belt, Hagins is one of the more experienced players on the Sixers’ Las Vegas roster. A banger who averaged 10.9 rebounds over his final two seasons at Delaware, Hagins credited his experience in the D-League with helping prepare him for his shot with the Sixers.
“The D-League prepared me for this year really well,” Hagins said. “All the calls are the same and it’s pretty hands-on, so it’s pretty much the same thing as the NBA.”
Saddler, on the other hand, is fresh out of college and undrafted, but feeling confident after a senior season in which he averaged 19.7 points and scored 21 in the Blue Hens’ first-round tournament loss to Michigan State.
Still, having Hagins around to prepare him for summer league has been a huge relief to Saddler, and he's taking advantage of the situation.
“[Being in the NCAA tournament] was great and it benefited me a lot because if you’re a mid-major you have to get into the NCAA tournament to get recognized,” Saddler said. “I kind of know the game a bit more now.
“[Hagins] has been telling me some things I can do [during summer league]. Some things when we get to the hotel and when we’re out on the court to better myself.”