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SAN DIEGO – Daulton Hommes took Point Loma Nazarene to the national title game a year ago, a performance which he’s parlayed into a spot on the San Antonio Spurs’ G League roster.

Recently, the six-foot-eight, 215-pound rookie has had to learn how to keep working in isolation.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic which shuttered professional sports leagues nationwide, Hommes was having a smooth transition to the G League, the NBA’s official minor league basketball organization. After going undrafted in 2019, the PLNU product signed with the Spurs in August, rejecting several offers to play overseas.

“It’d be best for my case to just stay here and stay in front of a lot of the NBA front office scouts who are at a lot of the G League games consistently,” Hommes said recently, “whereas it’s harder to reach these executive-level people overseas.

“For me, it was (a decision) just to stay in front of scouts and continue to provide I can play at the NBA level,” he said.

Hommes played 36 games with the Austin Spurs, averaging 8 points and 3 rebounds a game. The team was in its final stretch of a 24-18 season and vying to reach the playoffs when the NBA’s season was suspended.

“After the game was over and during handshakes, people were kind of joking like, ‘Well, see you next season, this is probably going to be it,'” the forward said.

He reigns as the national Division II Player of the Year after leading the Sea Lions to the first national championship game in the school’s history. Hommes, 23, said his life has been a little different in the professional ranks.

“Everything’s faster, everyone is bigger and stronger,” he said. “In terms of off-the-court stuff, you have a lot more time to be independent, time to do things you want to do off the court. Obviously a lot more free time with no school, no school work or anything like that so you have to choose your time wisely and how you want to spend it.”

For Hommes, that means staying in shape by training alongside his younger brother. He said if — and when — the season resumes, he’s ready to continuing proving he belongs in the NBA.

“I’m pretty self-motivated, so it’s pretty easy for me to stay in shape, get better, get stronger,” he said. “For me, it was just to stay with it, stay consistent and be a pro every day. “