John Wall Invitational: Top 40 junior Daeshun Ruffin discusses latest
RALEIGH, N.C. -- One of the most entertaining players in high school basketball, top 40 junior point guard Daeshun Ruffin put on a show and discussed his recruitment on the opening day of the John Wall Holiday Invitational.
Back in June, the 5-foot-9 floor general who is known as a big time scorer thought that he had found his fit when he committed to Auburn. However, he decided that he had maybe rushed into things and soon reopened.
"I just wanted to go through the whole recruitment process," Ruffin told Rivals.com. "Not to say that Auburn is a bad school or anything like that, it's great, but I needed to see the whole recruiting process. I just did it a little early and wanted to see all the other schools, different campuses and what they had to offer me."
During opening night action, Ruffin went for a day high 29 points and showed off his explosive scoring and ability to get to the rim and finish despite smallish size. That explosiveness a big reason why others like Alabama, Houston, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss and others have offered.
Not surprisingly, he plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and is driven by people telling him that he can't play at the highest level because of his size.
"What separates me?," said Ruffin. "I would just say people telling me I can't play at a high level because of my size and telling me things that I can't do. Also when players go at me. When you go at me I've got to show you that I'm little but I can play.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Ruffin discussed where things stand with Auburn at this point along with trips he's taken to Alabama and Ole Miss.
Alabama: "They've got a couple of Mississippi guys over there and the family type style and I like what they have going on over there. Coach (Antoine) Pettway has been on me and trying to get me to go there and they are showing love."
Auburn: "I've still heard from them a bit but probably not as much as before. I'm still open to them and thankful that they thought enough of me to have me as the type of player that they want in the future."
Ole Miss: "The fans there show love every time they see me. They'll be like "hey there goes Daeshun," and they show real love. Rebel fans are most definitely some of the most exciting fans I've ever seen.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Not surprisingly Ruffin has decided that taking a step back from the process and focusing on his game and school is most important. He's not got any timeline for making a second decision and from the sounds of it he won't be diving too deep into his recruitment until he's at least finished up his junior season.
"I'm not planning on anything right now I'm just focused on finishing out the season. "When I start to look at it again I want to feel like I'm part of the family when I get there and education is going to be important. I want to get a great education and be around people that will support me."