With Louis Williams and Mike Mercer, two top 2005 prospects, at his side, South Gwinnett (GA) HS post man Avery Jukes doesn’t have to do too much inside other than rebound and block shots. But he does. And that’s already paying off for the sophomore big man.

Jukes and his South Gwinnett team kicked their season off with an impressive 66-42 win over Brookwood HS – starring Georgia signee Channing Toney. Playing in his first varsity start and in front of a standing room only crowd, Jukes shot 6 for 8 from the floor and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds on the night.

The chiseled sophomore said he was ready for the challenge and knew he could float under the radar for this game. With his impressive debut, teams will now prepare with Jukes in mind instead of worrying fully on the perimeter.

“Everybody thought that it is going to be Louis and Mike doing their thing by taking all of those shots and getting all of those points but I just wanted to come out tonight and show what I could do,” Jukes said. “Maybe people know about me know.”

Williams, who scored 23 points in the win, said he is the hardest on his young teammate.

“Avery stepped up big,” Williams said. “I’m very proud of Avery. He’ll tell you, I’m his worst critic. I always have something to say to him no matter whether he is perfect in practice or in school. I’m always in his ear. He really surprised me.

“I know how good he can be for us. I’ve never actually played with a real big man. The other (big guys) that I’ve played were good but out of all of them, Avery has the potential to be the best one.”

His potential has already been recognized by a handful of high major programs. The sophomore said he’s received letters from Alabama, Duke, Georgia and Purdue as well as “a ton of other smaller schools.”

South Gwinnett head coach Roger Fleetwood overheard his young post player listing off the universities and piped in saying, “I got a bunch more today but I didn’t want to give them to you before the game. You’ll get to read them (on Wednesday).” Fleetwood did not elaborate on what schools he was referring to.

Jukes said he has always had an interest in Maryland - the state he moved to Georgia from - and would like to visit the College Park campus someday. But in the meantime, he said he has already made several trips to a nearby school.

“I’ve been to UGA a couple of times for football games and I took a tour of their facilities and met their coaches,” Jukes said. “I really liked what I saw out there.”

With a trip to Florida for the City of Palms Classic in December with South Gwinnett and a possible run to the Georgia state championship, Jukes said he hopes he can see his small yet respectable list grow.

“It just depends on how I play,” Jukes said. “If I play better each game, than hopefully I’ll hear more from other teams.”

Only 15 years old, Jukes does a good job of understanding his role as a power forward and plays well with his back to the basket. He uses his muscle inside and controls the rebounds and is patient on defense.

“I really like to get my points by posting up but I can step out and hit the midrange and further,” Jukes said. “But I like being inside. I’m already pretty good on defense so I need to work on other things like dribbling and shooting.”