Tracking the Stars of the Future
|
Hoops
Recruiting Report
Monday, January 23, 2006
By Thad Mumau |
 |
Blair sold on coaches,
chance to play early
©2006 Bonesville.net
When Gabe Blair visited the East Carolina
campus in early September, he had a feeling that was where he wanted to
continue his education and his basketball career.
But he followed through on a promise to visit
Colorado State, and although he really liked it there, visions of Greenville
and the Pirates kept coming back to his mind.
Scheduled trips to Tennessee and St.
Bonaventure still loomed ahead. Those were trips that had once sounded
exciting, but no longer. So he canceled both visits, and he followed his
heart.
Blair, a 6-8 forward from Kings Mountain (NC)
Hope Christian Academy, committed to East Carolina and then signed with the
Pirates in November.
“When he came back from Greenville,” Hope
Christian Academy coach Rod Seaford said, “Gabe figured he wasn’t going to
like any other place better than East Carolina.
“He liked Colorado State quite a bit, but
distance was the over-riding factor there. He really liked the East Carolina
coaches. They let him know they had expectations of him coming in and having
an opportunity to play early.
“East Carolina did the best job of recruiting
Gabe. The coaches really wanted him and they let him know that.”
Blair received scholarship offers from
Tennessee, Colorado State, St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts in addition to
ECU. Tulsa was also very interested, and Virginia Commonwealth offered last
spring, then figured out he wasn’t going there and moved on.
Thin at 217 pounds, Blair is averaging 18.8
points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 blocked shots through 16 games
this season, while hitting 54 percent of his field goal attempts, many of
which come from 12-15 feet.
He scored a season-high 25 points against
Terraceia, adding seven assists and six steals. He has pulled down 15
rebounds in one game, grabbing a dozen in another.
“His rebound totals aren’t what they could
be,” Seaford explained, “because he plays on the perimeter a lot, and he
usually guards the opponent’s top scorer. That puts him away from the basket
most of the time on defense.
“Gabe has played some two guard for us this
season. His three-point shot needs work, but he handles the ball pretty well
and has improved a lot in that area. He is an inside-out player, a face-up
player.
“We post him up some,” Seaford said, “and he
is very polished in there. He has a pretty good up-and-under move and a nice
half-hook. When he plays down low, he’s almost always quicker than the guy
guarding him.
“He has a good mid-range game and is a
match-up problem because of his size and quickness. He is real good at
catching the ball on the wing and going to the basket. Many times, he needs
just one bounce to get to the rim.
"Gabe is stronger than he looks, but he
obviously needs to put on some weight. He is very long-armed and lean. One
thing about him is that he can get up in the air. A lot of tall guys can’t
jump, but he can hop.
“He has a lot of athleticism, and he has made
a bunch of spectacular dunks and follow dunks.
“He is capable of being a good defender,” said
Seaford, who also coached Blair on the Charlotte Royals AAU team. “He showed
that this summer against some pretty good players.
“Gabe guarded Thaddeus Young and held him to
eight points, and he outscored Brendan Wright, 21-18.”
Wright, a 6-9 power forward, is the No. 3 high
school senior in the country as ranked by prepstars.com. Young, a 6-8 small
forward, is No. 5. Both are headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wright
having signed with North Carolina and Young with Georgia Tech.
Blair averaged 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds
for a Royals team that had a half-dozen future Division I players, four of
whom averaged 14-16 points.
 Send an e-mail message to
Thad Mumau.
Click here to dig into
Thad Mumau's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 02:42:40 PM |
