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Hood enjoying life after July

After a long and productive summer, Jon Hood is finally spending some time away from the game on the lake and doing some fishing. Ironically, the 6-foot-6 combo guard is quickly becoming a prospect that a number of programs are hoping to hook in the class of 2009.
The lines are being cast for the North Hopkins (Ky.) Madisonville High School, especially after a productive showing on the AAU circuit with this Nashville Celtics 16 and under club. Hood played well in Las Vegas, where he had a good number of coaches trailing him in Sin City.
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"I think I did pretty well. It took me a little while to get used to the physical play and the strength that everybody has. Besides all of that, I thought I play really well," Hood said. "The guys on the team, I love playing with them. We did a great job of playing the transition game."
Hood, a modest evaluator of his own game, was good as a perimeter scorer and showed off a good ability to score off the dribble as well as run the point. Hood perked up about playing the point.
"Yes, sir. I like that. You get to make most of the decisions at the point," he said. "You get to control the ball and the game more. I play the point most of the team on my high school team so I'm used to it."
So do a lot of college coaches. Hood said the feedback he has received from those recruiting him are positive.
"Most of the college coaches said they liked the way that I made decisions and my off the ball defense and the size that I have at the point. That's what most of them said."
Hood said he is enjoying being the big fish at the moment on the recruiting front. The soon-to-be nationally ranked guard said he has offers from Ole Miss and Georgia and the two SEC programs are sitting pretty with him at the moment.
"Those would probably be the top two at the moment simply because they have offered," Hood said.
Hood also said he has interest from Purdue, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky (offer) and Tennessee "who are really hitting me hard." Kentucky, Florida, Duke and Georgia Tech have all made contact and showed interest as well.
Don't expect an early decision from the four-star guard.
"Me and my dad sat down and talked about that. I decided that I'm going to play the year out and see what happens. I am going to take some visits in the fall but I want to wait about another year. I won't commit before next summer is over."
Hood said he has plans to go to Ole Miss, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee for football games or a visit. Keep an eye on a pair of programs during the high school season, too.
"I really like Duke's program and I really like Florida's program. They are essentially some of the top programs in the nation every year. I like the coaches at both of those places," Hood said. "If they offered, I don't know what I'd do. I'd have to think about it for a long time."
The best part for Hood, he's already given coaches something to think about after a strong summer performance.
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