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Oladipo Skills Academy: Night One Notebook (July 19)

07/20/2017, 7:15am EDT
By Tyler Sandora

Jon Bol Ajak (above, in May) is getting his first real exposure to college coaches after missing the April live periods. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)
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HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- The Victor Oladipo Camp opened up to Division I coaches and various media on Wednesday night for the first night of the July live recruiting periods’ second week.

Here’s a report from the camp, which is taking place at DeMatha Catholic (Md.) until Friday:

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Church Farm’s Ajak finally getting exposure

Playing in front of college coaches during a live period is something Jon Bol Ajak doesn’t have much experience with.

Last summer, Ajak was sidelined with an injury, and during the most recent live period in April, Ajak went home to South Sudan for his brother’s wedding.

After a week to play in front of college coaches, Ajak earned his first high-major offer, from the Seton Hall Pirates, adding to a list which previously included Temple, St. Joe’s, and Saint Louis.

After playing the majority of the season at the 16u level, Ajak spent the first week of the live period playing up a year with Team Final’s 17u squad at the Peach Invitational.

“They run a lot of sets in their offense, and the competition was tough at first,” he said. “It was very intense and the game moved very fast. The big men on 17’s are all 6-11 or bigger. Going up to the 17’s helped me compare myself to the other guys.”

In his first game on Wednesday night, Ajak scored four points, two of which came off of a turnaround fade away jumper near the foul line; something Ajak has improved in his game. He also turned some heads in the crowd when he sprinted down the court and pinned a layup high against the backboard.

“I’m working on my pick and pop game,” he said. “I’ve developed a presence down low so I’m trying to expand my game to the mid range. Defensively I’m working on blocking shots.”

During his upcoming junior year at Church Farm, the 6-11 forward has one goal in mind; bring home the first state championship in the school’s 100 year history.

As for the work ethic associated with the development of his game, Ajak has his mind in a tunnel vision, focused on what’s important to him in this upcoming live period; “get better and impress the college coaches.”

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Shortest player at Oladipo camp stands out

When you look down the roster of players at the Victor Oladipo Skills Academy, you notice that most campers are about 6-foot-5 or bigger.

Then you notice that there is one player listed at 5-8, and that’s Markquis Nowell. But once you watch him play, you can understand why he belongs with the bigger guys.

A native of Harlem and a rising senior at the Patrick School (N.J.), Nowell knows he needs to work extra hard to make up for his lack of height.

“I’ve got to play with a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “My height really doesn’t mean anything to me because I want it more than these bigger guys.”

A super quick New York style point guard, Nowell is a floor general, commanding his teammates and letting them know where they should be. He also uses his height to his advantage by staying low to the ground in transition and being able to push the ball up the floor quicker. Nowell scored 10 points on Wednesday night, and hit two 3’s.

After spending this past AAU season with New Heights and 5* prospect Moses Brown on the UAA circuit, Nowell plans on switching over to play for the NJ Playaz for the Fab 48 and The Eight, two tournaments which will take place in Las Vegas at the end of the month.

Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Cal are three schools heavily recruiting Nowell. Nowell wishes to finish off his AAU career before sitting down and planning out his visits.

“I constantly want to prove everyone wrong for looking at me differently because I’m 5-8,” he said. “I’ve got the biggest heart and I play really hard.”

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Quick Hits
-- Jalen Carey will take his first official visit to Miami at the end of August, and mentioned Syracuse, Kansas, and UConn. as other schools he is considering visiting. Because college coaches are recruiting him as a point guard, Carey is working on developing his IQ and leadership skills for the next level. A 6-3 rising senior at Montclair Immaculate Conception (NJ), Carey is a shifty all around guard who is always in attack mode once his inside the arc. Carey scored 15 points on Wednesday night, including two 3’s.

-- A 6-5 wing/forward, 2018 Talen Horton-Tucker used every pound of his 220 pound frame to bully defenders in the paint on Wednesday night. A rising senior at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, Illinois, Horton-Tucker has been hearing from mostly midwest schools such as Michigan State, Purdue, Xavier, an Iowa State. A versatile player on offense, Horton-Tucker is working on his mobility on defense and being able to defend quicker guards. He even showed off his smooth stroke from deep, scoring 22 points of 4-5 from beyond the arc.

-- Even though he was one of the youngest players at the camp, A.J. Hoggard showed he belongs with the older guys, the 6-3 Archbishop Carroll guard scored nine points and pulled down four rebounds, all while playing agasint some of the EYBL’s top talent. While playing for Team Final 16’s the past week at the Peach Invitational, Hoggard and company took the Albany City Rocks all the way to triple overtime before dropping the championship game, 90-89.

-- After visiting St. John’s, Luther Muhammad has visits planned to Ohio State and Xavier. A 6-4 rising senior at Hudson Catholic in New Jersey, Muhammad was all over the floor on Wednesday night, diving on the floor for loose balls and nailing shots on offense, finishing with 19 points. Playing for the NY Rens, Muhammad made it to the semi-finals of the Peach Invitational last week, playing with only six players. A natural leader, Muhammad was directing traffic even from the bench when he wasn’t in the game. “I’m a natural leader. Everything i do i lead. I need want to be a guy who just follows others. I always want to be in control,” he said.

-- After finishing off a strong summer with Team Takeover’s 16u team, Casey Morsell is focusing on expanding his list of offers which currently includes Richmond, Virginia Tech, and Penn State. Casey’s older brother Mike, a rising senior at Towson, has been influential in Casey’s development as a player. “Everybody will be skilled and they can all play”, he said. “He told me defense makes a difference and showed me that something as simple as shaking a teammates hand can make a difference.” Playing more of an off-ball guard role on Wednesday night, Morsell scored six points on 3-6 shooting.


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