UM coach Frank Haith has seen flashes of greatness in Dwayne Collins. Like his magical night against Duke as a sophomore, when he used his 7-4 wingspan to score 26 points, grab seven rebounds and was named national player of the week.

Haith also has seen the ineffective Collins. Like the forgetful afternoon against Virginia Tech at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in March, when the 6-8, 241-pound former Miami High standout scored four points and played only 19 minutes.

Haith hopes to see only one Collins this season: the consistent, go-to threat.

``We're coming to him,'' said Haith, who has two starters back from a 19-13 team that tied for seventh in the ACC and lost to Florida in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. ``Dwayne knows the offense is centered around him.

``The first four minutes, he's going to get a lot of touches.''

All the touches used to belong to two-time All-ACC guard Jack McClinton most of the past three seasons. But with McClinton now playing professionally in Turkey and six newcomers on the team -- including four in a recruiting class ranked among the top 25 nationally, Haith is looking to Collins to be the foundation.

A BIG `IF'

``That's always been the issue with Dwayne,'' Haith said. ``If Dwayne is able to be a consistent player, he's an all-league player. I really believe that. First team, all-league. I think he's as good as there is when he's on his game and playing like that night in, night out.''

Collins, who averaged 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds last season, said he's ready. His teammates said he has become more vocal and will put his arms around them at times and point out where they are supposed to be on certain plays. But can Collins really carry the load while freshmen Durand Scott, Garrius Adams and Antoine Allen get adapted to the college game?

``I can handle it,'' Collins said. ``I feel like I'm ready. People respect me enough. But I'm not going to be a selfish player or anything. I tell my freshmen all the time in practice, cut and you got it.

``I'm going to get my touches, but I'm going to make sure other guys score. too.''

Collins tested the NBA waters this summer at the urging of Haith. He worked out with two teams before withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft in June. This summer, he trained again with former NBA player and coach John Lucas in Houston and participated in the Amare Stoudemire Basketball Camp and the LeBron James Skills Academy. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla named Collins the ``hardest worker'' at James' camp.

``I learned I have to rebound a lot more,'' Collins said of his workouts for NBA teams. ``I think I did pretty good, to be honest.

``I've been working on my fadeaway shot a lot since then.''

MUST PLAY QUICKER

Haith said Collins will need to play quicker than he is used to because teams will be preparing prepare for him.

``He has to be ready when people surround him, work to get open, but also when he gets it be quick with his moves,'' Haith said. ``Sometimes, he's methodical with his moves. And I think it's because Dwayne is trying to get his feet underneath him.

``But he really needs to understand he has good quickness and he's a threat. By playing quickly, it won't allow double teams. He needs to have that pace, that quickness in his game. Sometimes Dwayne allows people to push him off the block, so he's not in the scoring area. When he need him to work hard to get those two feet in the paint.''

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