You might have missed new Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. in the cozy gym at The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J. this fall.
After all, Kentucky coach John Calipari passed through on several occasions and Arizona’s Sean Miller and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was there, too.
They were busy recruiting Nick Richards, the 6-foot-11 big man who ultimately signed with Kentucky.
But Dunleavy snuck in and out of the Garden State long enough to land two steals in 6-foot-9 Bul Ajang and 7-footer Buay Koka, who will be key frontcourt players this season as The Patrick School, loaded with five Division 1 signees, looks to win the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title. The two natives of South Sudan signed with Tulane last month, as first reported by ZAGSBLOG.
Associate head coach Doug Stewart, a New Jersey native with prior coaching experience at Nevada, Oregon State and in the NBA D-League, was the point man on the recruitment.
“We have a team [where] right now we don’t have a lot of size on our team,” Dunleavy said Thursday by phone, one day before his Green Wave (1-6) is set to host St. John’s (2-5), another team recruiting New Jersey’s rich fertile territory.
“We have like three bigs at the big spot to begin with and one of those guys is a senior so for us to land two big guys like Bul and Buay is a great step forward. They’re great fits. They fit together. One guy is 7 feet tall with a 7-7 wingspan and is a great rim protector, defender, rebounder and can score in the low post. And Bul is a very skilled big man. He can score in the low post left and right and he has the ability to shoot the ball from the outside as well. And both guys have a good IQ, great work ethic.
“The other thing it does for us is, Brooklyn’s my roots but it establishes a presence in the New York City/New Jersey area, metro area and I think that’s a place that I know a lot of people. I think we have a lot to offer here at Tulane regarding campus, school, weather, all kinds of things.”
Dunleavy, 62, was also the GM of the Los Angeles Clippers and a longtime NBA coach and he believes he can help get guys like Ajang and Koka ready for the next level.
“Particularly for guys that want to try to make it to the next level, playing that style and being prepared on all fronts, offensively and defensively, being able to walk from this campus to a training camp will be something that will not require a learning curve,” he said. “And making inroads and tie-ins with elite high schools and AAU programs, it’s a part of building a great long-lasting program.”
Something Dunleavy hopes to do at Tulane.
(Photo: Plainfield-sports.blogspot.com)
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