One of the major breakout performers of the second July recruiting period in the Atlanta area was Amanze Ngumezi from 1 Family. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound power forward showed off his perimeter skills with his jump shot and handle, but he also dominated on the block and threw down some ridiculous dunks.
Quite a few schools took notice of his ability. Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech came in with scholarship offers this weekend. Clemson, South Florida, Wichita State, Florida Gulf Coast, UAB and UMass had offered prior to this weekend.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Ngumezi talked about why his game has taken off recently and his interest in some of the schools recruiting him.
On his recent improvement: “It’s always been there. I just needed to work a little harder. I was holding a lot of stuff back because I didn’t want to mess up. When I went down to Orlando to work with Coach [Darryl] Hardin for a couple weeks, we had 5 a.m. workouts and kept working on the same things. I’ve just been working real hard every day.”
Georgia: “The offer from Georgia feels good. Me being from Georgia, that’s like every Georgia kid’s dream to get that Georgia offer, so it feels good they finally recognized me.”
Illinois: “He told me I fit in great with their offense since I can play multiple positions. As far as the rest of it, I’m not really too familiar with their program.”
Virginia Tech: “He said they like my versatility and my ability to shoot the ball.”
Clemson: “I feel really good about Clemson. I see Coach Smith every now and then. He calls me and tells me how he believed in me first and how he saw that I was already a good player. He tells me how I could go to the NBA from their program.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
Ngumezi says he definitely wants to start moving forward with the recruiting process as soon as July is over. He’ll get out and see some schools during August and will continue looking into schools until he finds the right one. He hopes to have a decision out of the way before his senior season starts at Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia.
RIVALS' REACTION
Ngumezi admitted Georgia and Clemson are the two schools standing out the most right now. Both are relatively close to home for him, and both schools have been in the picture for a while now. A strong showing in Vegas this weekend could complicate this one, but the Dawgs and Tigers should like where they stand right now.
