By SEAN BOCK
Max Agbonkpolo, the 6-foot-8 small forward from Santa Margarita Catholic (CA), has gone from a role player on his high school team to a highly-regarded prospect in the class of 2019.
Agbonkpolo holds offers from mid-majors Utah State, UC Santa Barbara, Columbia, and San Diego State but picked up offers from Arizona and USC earlier this year. He talked both schools for ZAGSBLOG.
Arizona: “Amazing place. Amazing facilities. Of course, they’re a really good basketball team, and when I visited there, the culture was all about Arizona. It was a college place, and that’s what I liked about it a lot.”
USC: “They were my first high-major offer, and they’re really heavy on me right now. Another big school and I’m definitely considering them.”
Kansas, Michigan, Virginia, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Texas are other schools that have expressed interest but have not offered.
“Max is a great kid and fantastic basketball player,” Double Pump coach David Rebibo said of Agbonkpolo. “He is dynamic at 6’8″ and has the ability to play multiple positions on the court and score at all 3 levels. An incredible talent who is only scratching the surface.”
As for now, Agbonkpolo’s recruitment is wide open, but he said he wants to get to Gonzaga, Michigan, Kansas, and Texas at some point this summer for a visit. “It has to be good academically,” Agbonkpolo said of what he wants in a school. “Of course, if basketball doesn’t work, I’ll have something to fall back on. I don’t want to come in as a freshman and not play so I want a place where I can make an impact my first year.” According to 247Sports, Abonkpolo is a three-star prospect and the No. 143 player in the 2019 class.