Daniel Mading is going from one Coach Hurley to another.
The No. 8 center in the Class of 2017 according to 247Sports.com and the cousin of heralded 2016 big man Thon Maker, Mading committed to Arizona State and head coach Bobby Hurley on Tuesday night, St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrhhWRJryMc]
“Bobby called me [Tuesday] night to let me know,” Bob Hurley Sr., the Naismith Hall of Fame coach, said by phone Wednesday morning.
“I think there was a strong relationship built and he’s had a chance to watch [ASU] play quite a bit on television and they like his versatility. I think it will be good for the kid because it will take all of the thought process away now and he can just concentrate on getting better, and not worry about all the other stuff.”
Said St. Anthony’s assistant coach Eric Harrield: “He’s a great kid who has been a joy to coach from the moment he arrived. The way he hangs on every word of Coach Hurley, you know he will be successful for Bobby.”
The 6-foot-10 Mading becomes the sixth current St. Anthony’s player to commit or sign with a Division 1 school this year.
Evan Daniels of Scout.com first reported the commitment.
A native of the Sudan who grew up in Australia, as did Maker, Mading told me on Sunday he was hearing the most from Arizona State, Wake Forest, Missouri, Marquette and LSU.
He is the cousin of the 7-foot Maker, who recently announced a top five of Arizona State, Kansas, Indiana, Notre Dame, and St. Johns.
A face-up big man who is strong in transition and who will only get stronger, Mading will likely only be able to play this one season at St. Anthony’s because of his age. It remains unclear how he will spend the 2016-17 season.
“We’ll petition the state because he misses the [age] cutoff by a couple days,” Hurley said. “The state will probably turn it down, so we assume he would probably go to prep school for a year. Or we’ve talked to him already about just staying in school, doing everything we do every day and just not playing the 26 games because if there was ever a generation of kids that could play less games, it’s these dudes.”
As for going from one Hurley to another, Bob Sr., said, “First of all, I think he’ll like playing in the [Pac-12] Conference. I think he’s enjoyed being coached. In the time I’ve been around him, he thinks the game, he watches the game. He really has a good basketball IQ. And he sees the opportunity there because their roster is not so deep, that he can see himself playing early on.
“The way guys have been developing at Buffalo and Arizona State [under Bobby Hurley], I think he sees that he’ll continue to be coached.”
ZagsBlogDaniel Mading is going from one Coach Hurley to another. The No. 8 center in the Class of 2017 according to 247Sports.com and the cousin of heralded 2016 big man Thon Maker, committed to Arizona State and head coach Bobby Hurley on Tuesday night, St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv.
