French Announces Commitment

New England Recruiting Report | Monday, October 24th, 2016

Commonwealth Academy and PSA Cardinals forward Hasahn French was surrounded by teammates and classmates on Monday morning as he announced his commitment to Saint Louis University.

NERR's Mike Yagmin was on hand at Commonwealth Academy to capture the ceremony.

"I feel like they will be the best chance for me to get to the NCAA tournament," French said of SLU, " and I feel like I'll have a great role, be able to start there and have a great career there."

The commitment is an absolutely huge one for Saint Louis as first year head coach Travis Ford is attempting to build a program that can contend in the Atlantic 10. He already holds an early pledge from local ESPN 100 product Jordan Goodwin, a 6-foot-4 swingman, and so the addition of French provides the team with two players who have now spurned numerous high-major offers in order to chose the Atlantic 10 school.

While French's final four consisted of Saint Louis, UMass, Marquette and UNLV, that was only after he trimmed his list of scholarship offers to reflect the places where he believed he could make the most immediate impact. He held over 25 others division I offers including schools from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 12 among others.

In short, French proved that he was capable of playing at the very highest levels of college basketball and then went about his decision making process with the maturity to know that it wasn't all about just level of play.

While French has long been known as a star in the New England prep ranks, this summer he made a name for himself on the national stage with big performances during both the EYBL circuit as well as multiple national camps. An athletic, rugged and powerful southpaw who has increased his skill set with each passing year, he's also the consumate winner who showed this summer that he values the team's success above his personal accolades or stats.

On a loaded PSA Cardinals roster that also included the likes of Mo Bamba, Brandon Randolph and Quade Green among others, French was content to do the dirty work early in the year as he established himself as a premier rebounder, finisher and defender. When Bamba and others went down with injuries though, French then showed he was capable of stepping up and leading a team in the frontcourt as he averaged 13 points and 12 rebounds during session III in Virginia. Ultimately, he ended up being the heart and soul of a team that advanced to the finanls of the EYBL Championships at the Peach Jam.

Below are some of his various summer highlights.

 

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