Jack announces he’s headed to South Kent (Conn.) Prep School
by Javier Morales on May. 03, 2010, under Sports
Kadeem Jack will attend South Kent (Conn.) Prep, the same school attended by UA forward Kevin Parrom (Kadeem Jack photo)
Who should be the President of U of A Athletes? Check out the details at WILDABOUTAZCATS.com
I received a text message minutes ago that announced: “Kadeem Jack to South Kent”, from the budding Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School senior forward himself.
That basically announces what was a foregone conclusion after what was reported last week. Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com reported that Jack was set to visit South Kent with his mother and it appeared likely he was headed in that direction. His text message tonight confirms that.
I texted Jack back, asking whether his opinion of Arizona changed during the process.
“Respect them,” Jack wrote, “and will keep them in my recruiting process.”
That might be easier said than done because of the UA’s probable lack of available scholarships next season.
After his official visit to Tucson in January, Jack, a 6-8 forward, told me that Arizona was his favorite inasmuch as it was the only school he scheduled for a recruiting visit at that point.
In an interview before that visit, he discussed the option of attending a prep school as a realistic possibility because he has only played basketball four years since moving to New York from Trinidad and Tobago. However, after the visit to Tucson with his mother, he mentioned that attending a Division I university was likely in his plans.
With Jack out of the picture for the Class of 2010, that leaves Miami-Dade Junior College forward Eloy Vargas as the lone recruit UA coach Sean Miller and his staff are trying to sign for next season. Vargas visits the UA campus Friday and Saturday.
Jack is not the first New York-area player recruited by Miller at Arizona to decide to go a different route. Lamont “MoMo” Jones, of Harlem, picked USC over Arizona late in the recruiting process last year. However, after former USC coach Tim Floyd abruptly resigned amid an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations, Jones changed his mind and attended Arizona instead.
Now, Jones is more than likely going to be the UA’s starter at point guard next season.
The Wildcats are still in the process of recruiting Class of 2011 wing player Angel Nunez of Winchendon (Mass.) Prep School by way of Brooklyn. Fellow Brooklyn product Sidiki Johnson, a power forward who will be a senior next season at Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep, has already verbally committed.
The UA is also in on 2012 recruits Dashawn Suber, a teammate of Jack’s at Rice, and guard Omar Calhoun of Christ the King.
Khem Birch, a Class of 2012 forward and a teammate of Nunez’s at Winchendon, is also in Arizona’s radar after playing well in last summer’s Reebok All-American Camp in Las Vegas. Birch hails from Quebec City, Canada, and is 17. He is two years older than others in his class reportedly because of academic issues he is trying to correct at Winchendon.
Pingback: Jack officially to prep school | "Tell them … tell the team to bear down"