Drummond Blowing Up at AAU Nationals
For the nation’s highest level prospects there is often times a singular moment when they announce themselves to the rest of the country.
For Alex Oriakhi that moment came early in his career when, as just a rising freshman, he blew people away while running with BABC for the first time at the Nike Peach Jam.
For Andre Drummond that moment might have come this past Wednesday.
With the analysts from virtually every major national recruiting service in the country looking on, Drummond turned in a performance so powerful that he earned some of the highest praise these analysts have thrown out all year long.
ESPN’s Reggie Rankin plainly said Drummond was the nation’s top prospect in the class of 2012.
Scout.com’s Dave Telep said, “You had to be there to understand the impact Andre Drummond had on the AAU Nationals,” and later added, “The soon to be 16 year old put on a show against Gold Coast…and left an entire gym speechless. Honestly, he looked like a young [Amare] Stoudemire.”
The Rivals network was no less effusive with their praise of Drummond. “Sometimes a player comes along and it is just scary to think about how good he is going to be. In the 2012 class that prospect might be Drummond,” wrote Rivals’ Brian Snow. “…In essence, there is just nothing on the floor that Drummond can not do…As someone who is now in the proper grade, the sky is the limit.”
The game against Gold Coast took place in the second round of the championship bracket, after CBC earned a bye in the first round having won their pool. Drummond, who has spent the majority of the season leading CBC’s u16 team, was added to the u17 roster for nationals to help give them an extra interior presence.
He did that and much more as coaches and scouts alike were raving about his ability to play above the rim, score on the offensive glass, run in transition, control the defensive glass, and block shots.
But his most impressive play of the game came when filling a lane on the fast break. He caught the ball just beyond the elbow, took one stride, jumped, and dunked over the transition defender who had elevated to attempt to block the shot. Drummond dunked the ball with such force that the defender was knocked to the ground, while Drummond landed on balance and ran back on defense without missing a step.
Drummond has been tailed by UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, Rutgers head coach Fred Hill, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, and UMass head coach Derek Kellogg this week, but after the performance he put in on Wednesday his recruitment is no doubt about to go off the charts.
Alex Oriakhi
Andre Drummond