Gant filling up the shoe box

Finding size 16 shoes is never an easy task but for Darnell Gant the benefits of the having an extra box around is nice for all of the letters he is receiving from college coaches.

"I have big feet, so it's nice to have a place to put all of them," Gant said.

The parade of letters came strong after Gant showed off his skills at the ABCD camp and followed the camp up with a strong performance in Las Vegas. Now halfway into his junior season at Los Angeles Crenshaw (15-5), Gant is still putting the letters into his shoe boxes but now he's also beginning to add scholarship offers.

Gant, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward, said UCLA is the first school to offer him while Washington, Texas and North Carolina are also keeping tabs. There is plenty of room left in the shoe box though, he says. What schools would he like to hear from the most?

"All of them," Gant said. "Bring them on."

Still improving his overall game, Gant's best basketball still awaits him as do the offers.

"The summer worked out good for me because I was able to get known," Gant said. "Going into (last) summer, nobody knew who I was. I played well enough to make the coaches and scouts happy."

That should be the same story this year. Gant, the No. 81 ranked player in the class of 2007, says that is fine with him, too. He's in no rush to decide.

"I'll decide in my senior year. I'm not going to rush it. I want to visit the schools I'll look at first."