By SAM LANCE
CHICAGO — Class of 2023 four-star big man Al Amadou plans on making his college choice in the next couple of weeks, he tells ZAGSBLOG.com. Amadou will not make a final schools list before making his decision, and he doesn’t plan on taking any visits.
The 6-foot-9, 185-pound power forward from Chestnut Hill Academy (PA) and the Philly Pride AAU program, said three schools have been recruiting him the hardest as of late. Those schools – St. John’s, Marquette and Miami – are likely the schools Amadou will be choosing from. He broke down each option:
St. John’s: “I see myself fitting in at St. John’s just because they play the passing lanes a lot defensively. They’re really up-and-down, just fast-paced basketball. I like the way they guard on defense. It’s like traps, all of that. So I feel I could definitely fit in with their play style for sure, just up-and-down the floor the way I move.”
Miami: “I have a really good relationship with coach DJ Irving. He was my 15u Team Pride assistant coach. I just started playing basketball around that time, so he was a good mentor for me, like just throughout life. Head coach is really cool too. I just have a really good relationship with the coaches for sure.”
Marquette: “Out of all the schools, they’ve been recruiting me the hardest. They’ve been at every game. They’ll probably be at my game today. Coach Shaka [Smart] and I just have a crazy relationship, like he just called. At this point it’s just like, I don’t know, it’s cool. It’s good people, I don’t know how to describe it. And coach Shaka is really good at getting his bigs and his wings to the league. Especially like Mo Bamba, players like that, and they are all doing good in the league. So I could definitely see myself playing at Marquette for sure.”
Marquette and Maryland are the only two official visits Amadou has taken.
At the UAA finals in Chicago on Wednesday, all three of Amadou’s top schools were represented. St. John’s associate head coach TJ Cleveland and assistant Greg Vetrone were in attendance. Miami fielded associate head coach Bill Courtney and assistant DJ Irving. And finally, Marquette was represented by assistant Cody Hatt.
Amadou described himself as a versatile forward and said his NBA-alike would be Pascal Siakam.
“I’m good at stretching the floor, and I play defense one-through-five,” Amadou said. “I’m a good leader on the court. I talk a lot, talk to my teammates. I hit open threes. Mid-post and short-corner, around there, I’m pretty good with my face up game. And I can put the ball on the floor at 6-foot-9.”
Amadou’s favorite NBA player is Kevin Durant and Texas was his dream school growing up.
“I sometimes see KD in myself because of my ball handling,” Amadou said. “I don’t think I’ve shown anybody what I can really do with the ball yet, but it’s going to come soon.”
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