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Posts Tagged ‘Shabazz Muhammad’

The Big Surf: DeRozan’s hard foul on Johnson ignites teammate

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

These are some items reported on the Internet last week. Please check out WildAboutAzCats.com for some recent video footage of Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson was the recipient of a hard foul this week by DeMar DeRozan and his teammate Jabari Brown stood by his side

Things got a little touchy with current NBA players and college basketball prospects leading up to the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game in Venice Beach on Saturday. According to a tweet by RealGM.com, Nick Johnson was at the center of a dispute between former Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep teammate Jabari Brown and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan during one of the scrimmages during the week. “Jabari Brown getting into it with DeMar DeRozan. Some serious ****-talking going on here after DeRozan hits Nick Johnson with a hard foul,” is what the Twitter feed reads.

If anything, this shows the strong relationship between Brown and Johnson. During their summer together with the Drew Gooden/Oakland Soldiers, Johnson and Brown were recipients of many passes from Josiah Turner that led to uncontested shots or dunks. Out of the many AAU players I watched in Las Vegas in July, Brown and Johnson are unparalleled when it comes to working hard away from the ball to becoming a threat to score or open up a possibility for others. … Depending on who you read this week — the Arizona media vs. the Kansas media — there are varying outlooks concerning the decision of Sacramento point guard Josiah Turner to move up his visit to Arizona on Sept. 17-18 from Oct. 22-23. That leaves Turner’s visit to Kansas on Oct. 15 for The Late Night in the Phog event as his last visit. The general belief of those who follow Arizona, including yours truly, is that Turner’s move is a good sign for the Cats. A source indicated to WildcatSportsReport.com’s Gary Randazzo last week that Arizona’s coaches wanted the visit to be earlier in the process. The reason: Turner’s interest in the UA program has never been more robust, especially with Johnson committing to the Cats. They want to seize the moment and hope Turner commits after his visit. Kansas’ viewpoint is different, as evidenced by Gary Bedore‘s article in the Lawrence Journal-World. Bedore quotes Rivals.com analyst Shay Wildeboor as saying the fact that Turner will tentatively visit Kansas last is “huge.” “By the time he announces, it will be the last thing he’ll remember,” Wildeboor said. “He attended Late Night on an unofficial visit last year. He’s coming back on an official visit this year and has made KU his final visit. He obviously has great interest in KU.” …

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Muhammad wants to visit Memphis; says UA is in the picture

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Class of 2012 top-flight guard prospect Shabazz Muhammad has unofficially visited North Carolina and Duke and is looking to add Memphis to that list soon (Muhammad photo)

Read more about the Fab 48 and adidas Super 64 tournaments at our partner site, WildcatSportsReport.com

LAS VEGAS — With the amount of time Shabazz Muhammad of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High School has been in the spotlight, it seems like he should already be in college.

Muhammad, however, is only about to enter his junior season, perhaps the most coveted guard prospect in the Class of 2012.

College coaches have recruited him since he was in middle school and he has traveled the country with his high school and AAU programs throughout his freshman and sophomore seasons. Many of those coaches continue to observe Muhammad to this very day at the adidas Super 64 tournament at Rancho High School.

Muhammad will continue to experience that national schedule with Bishop Gorman plenty more, including the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., and the Nike Extravaganza against St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth, N.J., in Anaheim next season.

When asked if he is antsy to finally start college, Muhammad said, “Yeah, a little bit, but it’s been a great experience with these coaches calling.”

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Muhammad focus on Day One of evaluation period

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Potential UA recruit Shabazz Muhammad, a Class of 2012 superstar, drew a crowd of who's who among college coaches at the adidas Invitational in Indianapolis on Tuesday

Potential UA recruit Shabazz Muhammad, a Class of 2012 superstar, drew a crowd of who's who among college coaches at the adidas Invitational in Indianapolis on Tuesday

What’s more daunting, facing the background of a college-student cheering section while standing at the free-throw line, or looking up in the stands and seeing a who’s-who of college basketball coaches watch your every move?

That was the situation for top-flight Class of 2012 talent Shabazz Muhammad on Tuesday during the first day of the July evaluation period. Muhammad, of Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman, drew a crowd including the likes of UA’s Sean Miller, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Billy Donovan, Mike Krzyzewski and Ben Howland, among many others, at the adidas Invitational at Indianapolis.

The tournament is held at North Central High School, the school that former UA point guard Jason Gardner attended. Muhammad no doubt has seen Gardner’s jersey hanging in the gym. Gardner was the 1999 Mr. Indiana winner as the state’s top boys basketball player. One of Miller’s goals is to restore those kind of recruiting successes.

To some, however, the hunt for Muhammad, potentially the No. 1 recruit of his class by the time he graduates, might be similar to Arizona’s unsuccessful attempt to land Baltimore Class of 2010 standout Josh Selby (who chose to attend Kansas).

Time will tell. The Cats should be in a more favorable position, having three seasons completed under Miller when Muhammad finally plays college hoops. And Miller’s try at Muhammad might be more of symbolism than anything. It shows that Miller intends to keep the direction started by Lute Olson — the cream of the crop will continue to be a recruiting focus.

According to various reports out of Indianapolis, Muhammad, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, lived up to the expectations of the high-profile coaches. He displayed accuracy from beyond the three-point line. He showed a quick first step to the basket. He is also a tough-as-nails defender.

He scored 32 points in a losing effort for the Dream Vision AAU team against Indiana Elite.

Arizona is already in pursuit of one of Muhammad’s teammates at Bishop Gorman — small forward Roscoe Allen, a 6-7 player. Allen unofficially visited the Arizona campus last month.

Other recruiting news: Gary Randazzo, of WildcatSportsReport.com, is reporting that UA assistant coach Book Richardson is in Germany scouting Class of 2011 point guard Quinn Cook, who is playing with USA Basketball’s Under-17 team in the FIBA World Championships. Richardson’s appearance there shows how serious the Cats want Cook, who has the UA on his short list. Richardson is sharing the stands with some strong competition, however, in Hamberg. Kentucky head coach John Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua are there as well to make themselves seen by Cook. They are also watching commits Marquis Teague and Michael Gilchrist. … Other potential UA recruits at the adidas Invitational include Class of 2012 center Isaiah Austin of Arlington (Texas) Grace Prep, Class of 2012 forward Winston Shepard of Henderson (Nev.) Findlay (who is a teammate of Muhammad with Dream Vision), and Class of 2011 guard Norman Powell of San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln.