Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Shamorie Ponds will announce on Tuesday. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)
Shamorie Ponds will hold a press conference to announce his college choice on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson High School.
All signs point to St. John’s for the 6-foot-1 Ponds after Providence landed point guard Maliek White on Sunday night.
Ponds has taken officials to Providence, St. John’s and Creighton.
Whoever lands Ponds should be getting a stud.
“He’s the most improved player in New York City in the last 12 months,” longtime New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski told SNY.tv. “The game is so mental and right now he’s playing with total confidence. He can shoot 3’s, he’s gotta get stronger. He looks like the kind of player who can’t go to the basket but he can.
“He has more shakes than Tom Carvel, more spin cycles than Maytag. He’s a 3-point shooter, too. Right now he’s playing with them offensive confidence. He has tremendous hands. I’ve never seen a player on any level better at guarding the in-bound passer and stealing the pass and scoring layups. He has the best hands since All-State.”
Appearing recently on The 4 Quarters Podcast, Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard compared Ponds, nicknamed Slick, to two former NBA standouts.
“My best analogy is he has a little bit of Kenny Anderson in him and a lot of Nick Van Exel in him because he’s active on defense, he’s crafty with the ball like Kenny, he shoots it like Nick,” he said. “He distributes like Kenny. He has a combination of those two guys. He’s a lefty. You might even throw a little bit of Brandon Jennings in there.”
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
