Make no mistake about it, Rysheed Jordan is one of the top players in the class of 2013.
During his junior season at Philadelphia (Pa.) Vaux the 6-foot-4 point guard was a marked man but did what he could to lead a young team into the second round of the state playoffs.
"At the beginning of the year we were struggling because from the year before we had a lot of seniors," Jordan told Rivals.com. "We had a lot of freshmen this year and players who didn't play last year."
The No. 25 player in the class of 2013 Rivals150, Jordan says that he patterns his game after his favorite NBA player, Dwyane Wade.
"I think I'm a good passer," Jordan said. "I've improved a little bit with my mid-range jump shot and I need to keep working on my long range, my threes."
Whereas he was somewhat unknown at this time last year, Jordan now carries a national reputation. He says that reputation makes him want to work even harder to prove that it's deserved.
"I say yes and no," said Jordan when asked if being ranked creates pressure. "I think to myself I just have to work harder. People know that I'm ranked so I can't just go out there and play around. If I do people will be like, 'Who is this kid?' "
College programs definitely know who the kid is. Temple, La Salle, Drexel, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Alabama, Virginia, Villanova, Seton Hall and Penn State have all been involved
However, one program stands out as showing Jordan the most attention.
"Maryland is coming at me the hardest and I'm the No. 1 prospect on their recruiting board," Jordan said. "I'll probably take an official visit to Maryland."
According to Jordan, he'll look to narrow things down in July before setting up official visits. He's working on setting up an unofficial visit to Penn State in the meantime but hasn't set a date.
When he does decide, playing time and getting prepared for a post-basketball career will be important factors in picking a school.
"Somewhere I can go right away and just play and if basketball doesn't work out I can have a degree in something I can do," he said.
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