John Petty Down to Two, Will Visit Kentucky
John Petty is down to two schools
Tremont Waters, the 5-11, 160-pound point guard from
NEWARK — Bourama Sidibe has only been in the United States for two and a half years since leaving his native Mali.
But at 6-foot-10 and 215-pounds, he is adjusting to life at one of the top prep basketball powers in America. St. Benedict’s Prep is the same school that produced NBA players J.R. Smith and Tyler Ennis, and also features current Kentucky guard Isaiah Briscoe.
In one recent scrimmage, Sidibe went for 14 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks.
“Bourama is a special player,” Gray Bees coach Mark Taylor said Monday. “He is super long and athletic for a big man with tremendous instincts and timing. He is a game-changer and a difference maker. He’s the best big man I have coached and that includes [former NBA lottery pick] Andrew Bynum. Bourama has a much bigger upside.”
Said junior guard Matt Cotton: “He’s a great player. I can get it to him anytime. He’s very agile in the post, aggressive, great defender.”
After visiting Kentucky for Big Blue Madness this past weekend, Quade Green cut his list to five schools on Monday: Duke, Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova and Temple.
“They [are] the five schools that keep in contact with me the most and that really want me, so I’m really considering all five of them,” the 6-foot-1 Neumann-Goretti (PA) point guard said Monday by phone.
Green visited Kentucky for “Big Blue Madness” along with his 7-foot PSA Cardinals teammate Mohamed Bamba and several other elite prospects.
“It was great, I loved it out there,” he said of Kentucky. “Very beautiful. The campus was beautiful, the coaching staff was great with me. I like it a lot out there.”
P.J. Washington, the 6-foot-8 forward from Frisco, Texas and Findlay Prep (NV), enjoyed his weekend unofficial to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness and is now focusing on four schools.
Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina and UNLV remain under consideration, while Texas is out. UNC’s Roy Williams and Kentucky’s Kenny Payne were both expected to visit with Washington on Tuesday.
Washington attended Kentucky for a second time following an official visit in September, and was at Big Blue Madness along with fellow Class of 2017 stars Mohamed Bamba, Quade Green, Trae Young and Kevin Knox.
“It was an unofficial for him so we didn’t really spend a lot of time with coaches,” said Paul Washington Sr., the Findlay Prep coach and P.J.’s father. “It was good. The only thing we were looking for is the fans, that old Big Blue Nation. There was definitely a lot of people for sure.”
The Sharette Dixon Classic is slated for Saturday, Oct. 22 at Gauchos Gym in The Bronx and is once again loaded with talent from the New York/New Jersey area.
This annual event is being organized in memory of Sharette Dixon, the wife of Kimani Young and mother of Kamaal Young (14), Khaliq Young (12) and Salimah Young (10). Proceeds from the event will support a family education fund that has been established for the three children.
The Underclass game tips at 6 p.m., with the Upperclass Game set for 8.
NYC UPPERCLASS (WHITE)
Coaches: Bud Pollard, Rahme Anderson
0 – Isaiah Washington, St. Raymond’s (MINNESOTA)
1 – Jose Alvarado, Christ the King (GEORGIA TECH)
2 – Markquis Nowell, Bishop Loughlin
3 – Saquan Singleton, Monsignor Scanlan
4 – Dallas Watson, St. Raymond’s
5 – Keith Williams, Bishop Loughlin (CINCINNATI)
6 – Donald Cannon-Flories, Lincoln
7 – Omar Silverio, St. Raymond’s
8 – Sidney Wilson, Brewster Academy
9 – Hameir Wright, Albany Academy
10 – Moses Brown, Archbishop Molloy
11 – Khalid Moore, Archbishop Molloy
12 – Greg Calixte , Mount Vernon
