Huell earns another state title
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Junior power forward Dewan Huell continued his strong play during the semifinals of the Florida state championships. Huell out performed his season averages by scoring 23 points, grabbing 17 rebounds and swatting seven shots and led his team into the championship game.
"It's a blessing to get back here," Huell said of his third consecutive trip to the state championship game. "It feels great because everybody was sleeping on us and we still made it back here."
In the championship, Huell had 18 points, eight rebounds and six blocks to lead Miami Norland to its fourth straight state championship.
There are not many young power forwards who have as well-rounded a game as the 6-foot-10, 215-pound Huell. He's extremely agile and has great hands. Huell has good touch out to the three-point line, has low post moves and counter moves. He plays position defense, rebounds in-and-out of his area and blocks shots. Certainly there is room for improvement in these areas, but his floor is very high.
"He's very athletic, so we tell him to sprint to the rim," said Miami Norland head coach Lawton Williams III. "There's not many bigs that can run with him, not many guards that can run with him; he runs track. So sprint the floor and lets get easy transition buckets."
In the semifinal, it was clear Huell was fully dialed in as we watched him grab six rebounds and contest several shots. But it was in the third quarter where he made his biggest statement of the night with 10 points, three blocks, three rebounds and a steal.
"I just had to be focused," Huell said of his attitude coming into the game. "It was a lot of pressure. Everybody's been coming to me saying that I've got to put the team on my back. I don't put the team on my back, I just go out there and play and I know my team has my back."
Coaches from Florida, Florida State, Miami and USF reached out to Huell before the game to wish him luck. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was spotted at the game, as were South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua and two of his assistants.
Louisville, Kansas, Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Miami and North Carolina have been showing interest n the No. 22 ranked prospect in the class of 2016. Huell feels he's developed strong relationships with coaches from Florida, Florida State and Miami.
Huell went on to tell us that a couple of coaching staffs have made an impression on his mother.
"She talks to all of them but I don't ask her about it because that's her business," said Huell. "Whatever they tell her that's for her. I can tell you that she likes the Florida State and Miami coaches. She likes their attitude and their personality."
Huell told Rivals.com that he will play travel ball with Team Breakdown and that he plans to cut his list either during or after the summer.
Russ Wood is a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and Inside the Gators. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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