Jack enjoys visit with mom, says he will likely take other visits
by Javier Morales on Jan. 29, 2010, under Sports
Kadeem Jack says he will finish his season with Rice High School in late February and take some visits before making a decision with his mother
PLEASE READ IN WILDABOUTAZCATS.COM: UCLA could be UA’s prime competition for Jack
Aside from the weather — what a time for it to rain in Tucson — Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School forward Kadeem Jack thoroughly enjoyed his visit to the UA campus this week, culminating with watching Arizona’s 76-68 win over Stanford at McKale Center on Thursday night.
“Going in, I really didn’t know what to expect, so I didn’t know if it exceeded anything,” Jack said this morning en route back to New York with his mother, Louisa Hall, who accompanied him on the visit.
“I know it was a great experience. We got to see the campus, which is nice. The fans were amazing. Some of them came up to me and said hello. They were great. The team was great. Everything was great.”
Jack, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound blossoming forward orginally from Trinidad and Tobago, said he will take his time to decide which college he will attend next year. He plans on completing Rice’s season — its regular season ends in mid-February — and then take additional visits before making up his mind by the April signing period.
“I plan on going home right now and talking it over with my mom,” Jack said. “Right now, I’m looking at UCLA and then Providence, Miami and Florida, and maybe some others.”
The aspect he liked about Arizona — other than the coaching staff including head coach Sean Miller and Book Richardson — was the idea of playing alongside forward Derrick Williams.
“Oh man, if I go there we would be quite a combination,” Jack said. “I could tell they needed somebody down low. I think I can come in and make an impact.”
Jack is only four years into his basketball development. Although he is 6-8 and growing, his wingspan is wide because of his long arms, making him actually play like he is 6-10 or 6-11. Currently, Williams, a Pac-10 freshman of the year candidate, is playing out of position at the post. He normally is an inside-outside threat as a wing and power forward.
The Wildcats have a void at the post as freshman center Kyryl Natyazhko is in the midst of adjusting to Division I basketball.
“(Williams) is a great player,” Jack added. “It would be nice to play with somebody like that in college.”
McKale Center’s atmosphere was enough to impress Jack and his mother. With spring semester underway, the ZonaZoo student section was back for the first time since the Pac-10 season started and it showed.
“Man, the game was wild,” Jack said. “It was packed. Their fans are really into their basketball. I liked that. On any given day, that place is sold out. I also like that most of their games are on TV.”
Jack said he is pressed for time with practicing and playing with Rice and his schoolwork, so it will be difficult to watch the Cats play on television.
“Any chance I get, I’ll be watching,” he said.
Adam Zagoria, who has comprehensive reports about New York City talent recruited by Arizona, writes that Tom Konchalski says Jack may well be the best player in the city right now. Konchalski is a long-time expert of New York City youth basketball.
“He’s playing out of his mind,” Konchalski told Zagoria. “He might be the best player in New York City. When Rice played at Loughlin, he was the best player on the floor unequivocally. He had 24 points, 20 rebounds and 6 blocks. He was a human highlight. He was all over the court and he guarded [Villanova commit] JayVaughn Pinkston and he couldn’t catch the ball on the wing.”
Jack and his mother did not take the traditional weekend visit so Jack could be back in New York City in time for tonight’s SNY Invitational. Rice, rated the No. 1 New York City area team by Rivals.com before its loss earlier this week to New York Holy Cross, faces No. 3 Boys & Girls tonight at 5 p.m.
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