St. Benedict’s Sophomore Precious Achiuwa Drawing High Praise
NEWARK -- Precious Achiuwa is only a
NEWARK — Bourama Sidibe, the 6-foot-10, 215-pound big man from St. Benedict’s Prep, took his first official visit to Texas Tech this past weekend.
“It was good, they have a great facility and they really care about their players which is good,” Sidibe told me Tuesday at practice.
Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard is recruiting Sidibe, a native of Mali.
“They say they’re going to use me as a four and a three if I come,” he said. “They say if I get there they’re going to work on my body and get me stronger and get me to the gym every day, any time I can they’re going to be coaches there.”
Deng Gak was initially hoping to make a college decision today (Monday), but after tripping to Florida and Kansas in recent days he decided to hold off.
“I’m still deciding whether I’m going to decide early or late,” he said Monday by phone. “My timetable to decide was today [Monday] but I don’t think I’m going to. I think I’m going to wait a little bit.”
The 6-foot-10 big man from Blair (N.J.) Academy and the PSA Cardinals took his official visit to Kansas over the weekend along with Norman (OK) North point guard Trae Young. Freshman big man Udoka Azubuike was Gak’s host.
“Kansas was great,” Gak said. “All the players were real cool. The community there is great. I had fun.”
Kansas has produced a ton of talented bigs over the years, and Gak could follow in their footsteps.
NEW YORK — Luther Muhammad had a big weekend for himself.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Hudson Catholic hit the game-winning jumper in the Nike IS8 semifinals and then went on to win the title alongside his high school teammate Jahvon Quinerly with the Northeast Basketball Club. Both players then represented New Jersey in the Sharette Dixon Classic Saturday night at the Gauchos Gym, where they lost to New York, 103-92.
“It was great because that was my first time playing at IS8,” he said. “So my first time playing I get a championship in it, so that’s pretty good. I was happy about that.
Game winner for @Luther_FlyGuy ??? @SportsUTeamIZOD #iS8 pic.twitter.com/d9bYotTb0P
— Overtime (@overtime) October 22, 2016
Class of 2017 point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has cut his list to eight schools after decommitting from Florida.
He is now considering Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, Florida, N.C. State, UNLV, Oklahoma and Texas, Dwayne Washington, Alexander’s coach with UPlay Canada told ZAGSBLOG.
Kentucky is expected to watch Alexander on Monday, while Kansas is expected in Tuesday.
A 6-foot-5 1/2 point guard from Chattanooga (TN) Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, Alexander averaged a team-high 15.8 points and 4.8 assists for Wings Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit this year.
Duke hosted a trio of bigtime Class of 2017 targets on Saturday night for “Countdown to Craziness” in point guard Matt Coleman, shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. and big man Wendell Carter Jr. All three went and sat with the Cameron Crazies at one point.
Five-Star 2017 #Duke official visitors @wendellcarter34 and @THAT_KID_GARY behind the bench for #CountdownToCraziness pic.twitter.com/s1axgERfII
— Adam Rowe (@BlueDevilLair) October 22, 2016
The 6-foot-5 Trent Jr., out of Prolific Prep (CA), and the 6-10 Carter Jr., out of Pace Academy (GA), have long talked about a possible package deal.
“A package deal is still the plan,” Carter Jr. told ZAGSBLOG this summer at the Adidas Nations event here, reiterating comments Trent Jr. made earlier this month at Peach Jam.
NEW YORK — Saturday was an especially long day for Jahvon Quinerly.
The 6-foot-1 Class of 2018 point guard played in the Nike IS8 event early in the day in New York, ultimately winning the championship alongside Hudson Catholic teammate Luther Muhammad and their NorthEast basketball teammates.
Quinerly then moved on to the Gauchos Gym where he scored 17 points as the New Jersey Upperclassmen lost to the New York Upperclassman, 103-92, in the Sharette Dixon Classic.
“It was actually my first time playing IS8 ever, so it was a packed gym in a little gym so it was a good experience,” he told me.
