Tharpe Heading to Kansas
Worcester native Naadir Tharpe has literally grown up playing on the biggest stages that New England basketball has to offer.
After two dominating seasons at St. Peter Marion High School he transferred to Brewster Academy where he is now beginning his third year.
He took over as the team's starting point guard from day one and has helped to led the team to an unprecedented period of success during his time there, including a 2009-2010 season that saw them capture both the NEPSAC class A title as well as the National Prep Championship.
It has been more of the same on the grassroots circuit, where Tharpe has run with the New England Playaz since arriving on the scene. His tenure has seen championships at the West Virginia Jam Fest, BasketBull First Eight, Playaz Spring Fling, and numerous others as well runs to the finals of the Adidas Super 64 and Desert Duel plus semi-final appearances at the Adidas Invitational and Real Deal on the Hill.
``Nobody in the country has played with more high-level talent over the last few years than Naadir – both with the (New England) Playaz and also at Brewster,” Brewster coach Jason Smith told Fox Sport's Jeff Goodman, who broke the commitment, ``The most important thing is that he wins and that’s why he wanted to go to Kansas – because of the program’s history.”
Kansas associate head coach Joe Dooley had made two trips to Brewster to see Tharpe earlier this year, and head coach Bill Self visited the prep school this week and officially offered him a scholarship.
It didn't take Tharpe long to make up his mind as he quickly pulled the trigger.
``They’ve had great players in the past and they always win,” Tharpe told FOXSports.com. ``That’s why I wanted to make the decision now.”
Tharpe, who had committed to Providence last spring before re-opening his recruitment in June, took an official visit to Minnesota last month and was scheduled to visit Oklahoma this weekend.
He had an official visit to Kansas scheduled for the weekend of October 22nd and will still take that trip as planned.
While Tharpe's winning pedigree has been well documented, what hasn't gotten as much attention but is almost equally impressive has been the development of his individual skills.
Known as a playmaking guard who was undersized with a suspect jumper early in his career, Tharpe now shoots a very consistent ball from the perimeter while having bulked up his physique so that he can take contact to finish inside the lane and keep opposing guards out of the paint on the defensive end.
The end result is a point guard with a complete all around game, capable of creating offense for himself and his teammates, steady and dependable running the show, and one of the best pick and roll guards you will find anywhere in the country.
Tharpe was the fourth highest rated available point guard in the country according to ESPN and is the first player to commit to Kansas in the class of 2011.
Naadir Tharpe