Hammons making big strides

In an age of very few true low block centers, A.J. Hammons of Carmel (IN) High School is a throwback. The aircraft carrier down low is making huge strides with his game, and recently completed an impressive sophomore season. Now the talented big man has a pair of offers with more schools taking a close look.

At 6-foot-10 and around 260 pounds, it is tough to miss Hammons. However it was far more difficult not to see him last year. As a freshman Hammons weighed in the neighborhood of 285 pounds, and that lost weight helped his game really flourish this season.

"He was doing conditioning every day, and going in before school twice a week to work out," said Hammons AAU Coach Jared Quarles. "He has done a lot of individual work on post moves with his high school coach. He just has more dedication to get better this year."

When it comes to his recruitment, numerous schools are in the mix, however according to Quarles only two have come forward with an official offer.

"He only has offers from Indiana and Xavier," said Quarles. "He has been hearing from Minnesota, Kentucky, Ohio State, and there are just so many schools recruiting him. In the Big Ten all of the schools are recruiting him except for Michigan and Michigan State."

The offer from Indiana came after Head Coach Tom Crean viewed a game at Carmel. Getting that offer from the hometown Hoosiers was a big one for Hammons.

"It is close to home, and with him being an Indiana kid it always have an effect," Quarles explained. "He did take a visit down there and he just loved the atmosphere."

Though the Hoosiers are the latest to offer, the Xavier Musketeers were the first to come forward and issue a scholarship.

"They have been in quite a bit to see him," said Quarles of the Musketeers. "They have contacted him, and they were the first to offer. He hasn't made a visit over there, but he does really like the coaching staff."

While those two schools were the latest to offer, one of the places that Hammons has long been linked with is Ohio State. Hammons and his high school team visited Ohio State for their team camp last June, and that trip was the first real experience that Hammons had on a college campus.

"They have been really involved in his recruiting," explained Quarles of Ohio State. "That is the first school he really got to see when he visited there with his high school team. He had a chance to see the campus, meet the coaches, and that was kind of his first opportunity to see the big stage. He really enjoyed himself there and has a good relationship with Coach (Brandon) Miller."

The reason that all of those schools are so interested isn't because of his scoring, rather because of everything else he does. Hammons is not a huge scorer in the post, but he does have the ability to really make his teammates better.

"He keeps post position, that is a big thing," said Quarles. "He gets deep on the block. Also he is a very good passer from post. A lot of people don't know that until they play him. Being in better shape he can run the floor. Of course being 7-feet he can block shots and also changes a lot of shots as well."

According to Quarles they are going to do a lot of work to have Hammons scoring match the other aspects of his game this summer.

"We have to get him a go to move in the post," Quarles explained. "He knows he has to be better rebounding out of his area as well. He just always has to keep improving and playing against the best competition that he can."

Currently Hammons is viewed as one of the premier post players in the Midwest in his class, and one of the top 2012 prospects in the state of Indiana.