Hall of Fame Class of 2020: The case for L.C. Comine
Comine
Every week leading up to the reveal of the nominees for the Class of 2020 for the Ultimate Hoops Hall of Fame, we’ll feature a possible candidate for the upcoming induction class. None of these articles will focus on anyone who has already been nominated for the Hall of Fame but has yet to be inducted. If you want to learn more about those candidates, you can visit the Hall of Fame section of our blog.
Today we’re focusing on UH Las Vegas player, GM and contributor, L.C. Comine.
The case for Comine
Comine has been involved in the UH Las Vegas community since the Summer of 2012. He played in the open league and draft league in Summerlin that season, playing in a total of 12 games between the two leagues. He’s gone on to play 642 more games in his career, giving him a total of 654, the sixth-most in Ultimate Hoops. That longevity is matched by only a few players across UH Nation, and matched by no one in Las Vegas.
How long Comine has played is impressive, but it’s far from the main reason why he will be considered for the Hall of Fame this year; It’s more about what he’s done with those 654 games. In that time, he’s won 20 championships, tied for the most in UH history with Ryan Jansen and Mckinsey Golfin, who were both first-ballot Hall of Famers.
Comine is not the level of player that either Jansen or Golfin is, but he had a hand in constructing almost all of those 20 title-winning teams. This includes the return of The Mob to the Summerlin Open League in the Fall of 2014, which he did alongside long-time teammate Chase Skinkis. That team won the title during that comeback season, finishing with an 11-0 record. They would go on to win three titles in a five-season span. Comine and Skinkis would then form the Villains in the Spring of 2016, who have won six open titles in Summerlin and are still one of the best teams in the league today. Of Comine’s 20 titles, he’s won 13 in Summerlin and seven in Green Valley, winning titles in open, rec and vet leagues.
Arguably the most impressive part of his Hall of Fame resume is the contributions he’s made for UH Vegas since starting to work for Ultimate Hoops in 2016. He started as a media associate for Summerlin, consistently writing intriguing and engaging articles that added a ton of value to the league experience. He overtook the role of league coordinator at Summerlin last year, and the amount of teams and the competitiveness of each league has grown consistently since he took over. Comine added a successful vet league to Summerlin this summer, and he’s rolling out a draft league set to start this upcoming winter.
The case against Comine
There are two main arguments you can make for why Comine should not be in the Hall of Fame. The first would be his lack of stats, which has proven to be something voters put a lot of emphasis on (understandably so, as you can only consistently watch players in your region). He’s averaged 6/1.8/1.7 over the course of his career, which is far from Hall of Fame numbers. The one thing he does really well as a player is shoot 3s, which his 42% 3-point percentage proves. The lack of stats might hurt Comine, but his play is not the reason he’ll be up for the Hall of Fame. His record as a GM should overshadow the numbers.
The second argument against him is the lack of a national championship. It is baffling that a Vegas team has never won a national tournament despite eight tournaments hosted in their city. Comine does deserve credit for helping put together teams that have competed in six of those tournaments, and having two Vegas teams compete in New York over the past two years. Of those eight teams, two of them got to a championship game (the Vegas Ballers in Vegas in 2018 and the Villains in New York in 2019), but neither were able to win that elusive title.
In my opinion, the arguments against Comine are far weaker than the arguments for him. I also always favor people who have made contributions to the league experience far more than someone who just plays. It’s people like Comine, Izzy Elkaffas and Joe Neuenfeldt that make Ultimate Hoops the unique experience that it is.