Zena Edosomwan attends the Harvard-Westlake School in California, but he’s dreaming of playing for Harvard.
A 6-foot-8 power forward ranked No. 35 at his position in the Class of 2012 by Rivals, Edosomwan currently lists the Crimson ahead of traditional powerhouses UCLA and Texas, as well as Cal and USC.
“His top preference has been leaning toward Harvard,” Greg Hilliard, the Harvard-Westlake coach, told SNY.tv Tuesday by phone.
“With his clear leaning toward Harvard, he needs 70 more points on the math side of things [on the SAT]. If the gets that most likely he would go.
“If he did not get that index high enough he would have to do a little homework and order those next four [schools] to which would be his favorite.”
Hilliard said Zena, whose parents were born in Nigeria, would take the SAT again in January.
Harvard recently made its first appearance in the AP Top 25, but Hilliard said that unprecedented feat actually had no bearing on Zena’s thought process.
“He’s not as interested in what they can offer basketball-wise as what they can offer academically,” Hilliard said. “His interest wouldn’t change if they were in the bottom 25.
“Harvard is a tremendous educational opportunity and if he can qualify he would like to take full advantage of that.”
Still, he is a talented basketball player.
Hence, the interest from the other schools.
“He’s an incredible athlete who can run the floor with anybody in the country and finish around the rim,” Hilliard said.
“He’s played less basketball than a lot so his polish needs to be worked on. I think everybody sees him as a four who can run the floor, rebound and block shots and has a nice handle.
“He’s a polite, high-character kid. That’s why everybody puts him so high on the list. He’s very academic oriented.”
