Click the Video Player at right for my interview from Wednesday with Rice senior guard Shane Southwell and senior center Kadeem Jack, seen here throwing down a dunk courtesy of the Daily News.
Rice plays in the SNY Invitational this weekend at LIU-Brooklyn and will open up against Boys & Girls on Friday night. The championship game takes place on Saturday at 4.
“I think this is big for us as a school. It gives us a chance to play on TV, which is very big for us as basketball players,” Southwell said. “It gives the whole city a chance to know who we are and prove that we’re the best team in New York right now.”
The 6-foot-6 Southwell previously committed Kansas State on SNY.tv, while the 6-9 Jack visits Arizona Wednesday-Friday and is considering a number of other elite schools, Arkansas, UCLA, Florida, Georgia, Miami, Providence, UConn, Seton Hall and St. John’s.
“It’s going to be fun finally go out there and take an official visit,” Jack said. “I’m kind of excited to go somewhere far because I like Arizona, they play my game. And then I come back out here on Friday and I try to get the win and get the championship on Saturday. It’s going to be an exciting week.”
One Division 1 assistant coach told me of Jack: “He has a legitimate shot to play in the NBA because of his freakish athleticism and he works really hard.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.