Prep Profile – Kimball Union Academy

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

 
Point guards and big men are typically considered to be the two hardest things to find when building a basketball team.  

If that’s truly the case then KUA head coach Mike Olson has two very unique weapons at his disposal in Devon Thomas and Abdul-Malik Abu.  

Thomas is a Maryland native who is now entering his third season in New England.  Coming off a breakout summer, he has his pick of over a dozen division I scholarship offers at this point with potentially more to come.  He’ll have the ball in his hands for Kimball Union and presumably given the freedom to do what he does best – may plays.  

One of the biggest beneficiaries of those playmaking skills is likely to be Abu.  While he projects as a four-man at the college level with his improved skill set, there may not be another big man in all of class AA that can match his power and explosiveness inside the paint.  

Put the two together and KUA not only has a heck of a pick and roll tandem but they have a team that will pose their biggest weapons in the spots that most other teams are most vulnerable.  

Beyond his top two, Olson will also have a good amount of depth at his disposal.  Duby Maduegbunam is finally healthy and back on the court, and he’s a guy who could very possibly develop into a crucial third scorer for this team.  

Another player expected to play a big role is six-foot-five forward Devin Gilligan, who has made noticeable improvements in his game within the last year, and now provides the versatility to play both inside and out.  

The final spot in the starting five might very well go to Malcolm Brent.  A six-foot-three guard who comes to KUA from the same Maryland town that produced Thomas, Brent got his first look at New England competition this spring and summer when he ran with Metro Boston on the grassroots circuit.  

If KUA is looking to move Abu out to the perimeter and go with a bigger line-up than Toriola Moses is likely to be the answer.  A Nigerian native in just his first season stateside, Toriola has already made noticeable strides since his July debut with his Expressions Elite travel squad.  

Other players capable of making contributions include: Danny Eiber, a sharp-shooting senior guard who is much improved after arriving at KUA as a junior; Crew Ainge, a talented and heady guard who will be able to offer minutes both off and on the ball; and Aboudi Al Qattan, a five-foot-ten post-graduate point guard from London who will be dependable running the show.  

Whether or not this is KUA’s best team in recent memory is probably a matter of perception, but what is less debatable is that the 2012-2013 season is KUA’s best opportunity to make a run.  With a point guard like Devon Thomas, a big man like Abdul-Malik Abu, and good depth and versatility in the supporting cast, they are one of the program’s that could take advantage of what is expected to be a wide open Class AA this season.