By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

WARWICK –Tyrone Nared is the classic “late bloomer” when it comes to basketball. The 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman at CCRI sat out his senior year at Woonsocket High, then concentrated on his grades in his first full year of college before returning to the hardwood this winter.
His return has ignited a CCRI team that recently lost two starters for academic reasons, opening the door for Nared, whose growth on the floor is apparent to everyone in the Cullen Field House.
Last Sunday, Nared contributed 17 points, 13 blocked shots and 11 rebounds to CCRI’s 103-70 triumph over Bunker Hill Community College. On the opening basket of the game, Nared caught an alley-oop pass from teammate Adalberto Bueno that was slightly behind his head and slam-dunked, igniting the crowd and setting the tone for the game.
“When Tyrone came to CCRI as a freshman, he wasn’t ready , physically or mentally,” CCRI coach Rick Harris admitted before Friday evening’s practice session. “I told him to focus on his academics and that’s what he did. Tyrone’s grades were good in his freshman year and he became eligible to play basketball this season. I think the two years off really helped him out in terms of his maturity. He keeps getting better and better.”
Nared, who averaged around 20 points per game in his final two seasons at Woonsocket, tends to agree with his current coach.
“Honestly, when I first came here, I wasn’t very confident in myself,” he said. “But when my coaches started telling me what I’m capable of doing, I started to believe. I didn’t realize how athletic I could be.”
Harris remembered Nared from his high school days.
 “He was a tall kid who shot a lot of 3s,” said Harris, who coached at Cranston East until taking the CCRI job three years ago.  “He’s still a skinny kid but I would guess he weighs around 205 pounds right now. If he keeps working with our strength coach, Andy Jackson, he’s going to be even better next year. Tyrone’s really in a good situation because he’s got another year to play at this level. He will graduate from CCRI with an associate’s degree. I’ve already talked to three Division I schools about him – Fairfield, Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart. When they ask me about Tyrone, I tell them to talk to Preston Murphy, who is now at assistant coach at Boston College. Preston played some ball with Tyrone over the summer and can give an honest appraisal.”
Harris uses the work “freak” in a nice way to describe Nared’s basketball game.
“He’s 6-foot-8 and he can handle the ball better than average,” the coach said. “He has perimeter player skills. He is not really a post player. He still shoots 3s well. What we like to do is put Tyrone on the baseline at the start of the game. Then he stretches it out as the game goes on, shooting some 3s, getting some rebounds. He’s averaging around 9 rebounds per game and he ranks 8th in the country in NJCAA Division II with 2.68 blocked shots per game.”
CCRI, which takes a 13-7 record into today’s 3 p.m. home game against Mercer County Community College, played a difficult early-season schedule that featured several games against Division I Junior College teams, including the highly-ranked Miami-Dade school from Florida.
“Miami-Dade has two kids going to Memphis, another going to Kansas next year,” Harris said. “Tyrone held his own against them. The more good competition he faces, the better he is going to get. I don’t think Preston Murphy would project Tyrone as an ACC or Big East prospect but he might attract some other D-I schools besides the three that have shown interest so far.”
Nared is excited about his chances to play Division I basketball but is realistic about what he has to do to get to that level.
“I’ve got to get my weight up to around 230 pounds,” he said. “When we played Miami-Dade, it was great competition and I got to see these players who were bigger and stronger than me. I got to see what the next level is all about.”
Nared also understands he has to keep listening to his coaches at CCRI.
“I still have a lot to learn about the game,” he said. “I want to become a good student-athlete, too. I just feel blessed right now with what’s going on in my life.”