Omar Alston Has D-1 Interest
Omar Alston, a 6-8, 285-pound center from Carteret High School in New Jersey, plays also for the New Jersey Central Jersey Hawks AAU team.
Omar averaged 18 points and 12.5 rebounds for
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Carteret last year. According to Alston's coach at Carteret, David Turco: "Alston has a top three of Colorado, Hofstra, and
LaSalle. Hofstra and LaSalle have both offered. Other schools who have shown interest include Ohio State and Virginia Tech."
*But Ohio State has recently taken Aaron Spears.
Alston took an unofficial visit to Hofstra for the program's Midnight Madness festivities. He also visited LaSalle unofficially this past weekend. Alston will probably visit Colorado officially on December 8th or 9th, after he has taken the SAT (December 1st).
David Turco: "If he does well (on the SAT), he may wait. If he gets the qualifying score, the word is that a lot of other schools will get involved. But I don't know if he'll wait around for that."
He added: "They like his footwork and his hands. Coaches compare him to Charles Barkley. He's a back-to-the basket player, someone who can score in the paint. There aren't too many players like him anymore.
"Coaches also like his versatility. He can hit the three. He is also an eighty-six percent free-throw shooter, so there is no hack-a-Shaq."
Distance could be something on Alston's mind too. "Distance is definitely a factor. All along we've been thinking that Omar will wind up in the (New York) tri-state area."
Turco reports that Alston is in good shape with his core GPA. He still needs to get a qualifying score on the SAT, and will take the test on December 1st.