09-23-2009, 07:15 PM
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Head Coach
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
Rakeem Christmas, No. 1 center in 2011 class, has IU on short list
By Sean Morrison | IDS
Sep. 21, 2009
Rakeem Christmas, the No. 4 recruit in the nation for the class of 2011 ?wants more for himself,? his coach, Kevin Givens, said.
?One of the things we?re blessed with is to have a kid ranked this high come to an institution like ourselves,? said Givens, the coach at Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb. ?It says a lot about him, his character and his aunt?s character.?
Christmas is beginning his first season at the private school after playing at Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia.
The Academy has a solid basketball history and was No. 22 in the nation, according to rankings from USA Today, during the 2007-08 season.
However, it is also a highly-rated school academically, called ?one of the top educational values available for families? by Private School Review.
?They want something different,? Givens said of Christmas? aunt and legal guardian, Amira Hamid. ?They want the academic piece for this kid.?
Christmas is 6 feet 9 inches and 230 pounds of athleticism, Givens said.
?He?s solid,? Givens said. ?Pure muscle.?
He also has a long reach, with an 88.5-inch wingspan. Givens said that reach gives Christmas a decided advantage, along with his overall athletic ability.
?He can do a little bit of everything,? Givens said. ?He?s very aggressive to the basket in terms of slam-dunking and that sort of thing, and he has a nice touch from the 15- to 19-foot range, and also he can take the average 6-foot-9 guy off the dribble and score inside. He?s got a lot of things that he can do. For us, we?re going to put him in situations where he can do it all.?
For Givens, ?doing it all? entails putting up about 20 points per game and grabbing 10 to 12 rebounds for his team, something Christmas is rather accustomed to as a big man.
Givens called Christmas ?demonstrative,? meaning his abilities are distinguished from other players in his class.
With Christmas being the No. 1 center in the class of 2011, that is obvious to Givens.
What isn?t obvious to Christmas? coach is his status on recruitment thus far. They haven?t spoken about it at all yet, mainly because that is currently not their priority.
?One thing I want him to focus on is getting himself acclimated to the school,? Givens said. ?We?re one of the top schools in the country academically, so that?s my first concern.?
Givens said Christmas has taken the school switch in stride.
?He?s been doing great academically, which we were sort of surprised at,? Givens said. ?He?s making the transition. We?re also a religious-based school too, in terms of Christianity, so he has to make that transition, as well. We do realize that some of this stuff may be a culture shock, but so far, so good.?
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idsnews.com | Indiana Daily Student |
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. Christmas is someone I said expect to blow up at the begining of March when I said Christmas, Gilchrist and Jahii Carson (2 out of 3 aint bad lol... Wish he was still available) would be names to look out for.
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