Tatum lives up to billing
Advertisement
ST. LOUIS -- Five-star junior Jayson Tatum helped turn an anticipated battle between St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade and St. Louis (Mo.) Christian into a rout on Tuesday night as the Chaminade Red Devils rolled up a big victory.
Thanks to an early blitz from Tatum and Chaminade, the game never really materialized into a particularly close one, but there was still plenty to see.
Given that he's the No. 4 player in the country, it only makes sense to start with Tatum. The 6-foot-8 small forward delivered early and often as he rang up 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half as his team ran out to a 47-17 lead.
Tatum opened things up by draining a pair of shots from well beyond the three-point line before showing off the rest of his game. Not only is Tatum tall for his position, he is growing into a pair of broad shoulders and has a very balanced game.
At different points throughout the evening, Tatum ---who had an assistant from Duke on hand to watch -- scored from either block. He finished alley-oops in transition, threw crisp passes and was strong on the glass. His deep jumper left him after nailing the first two three balls, but he was on point from mid-range and finished with 26 points (10-19 FG, 2-8 3PT, 3-4 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals to go against just one turnover to lead a 72-59 win.
Recently, Tatum has done a really good job of mixing his scoring with getting others involved and that was the case again as Chaminade played fast as much as possible.
"This year about halfway through the season, we wanted to pick it up," said Tatum, who will take his first official visit to Duke later this month. "I think that's really helped our team out. It gets people more shots, out much better in transition and I think we are in a good flow."
Tatum is far from a one man show, though, and he got early help from four-star power forward Tyler Cook. Before being limited by foul trouble, Cook scored six quick points and finished with 10 points and six rebounds in relatively limited playing tme.
The No. 93 ranked player in the junior class, Cook is a strong and thick low post player who has great hands. He is quick off the floor for dunks but what impresses is how he finishes with either hand, has soft touch and is rapidly expanding his offensive game (he hit a jump hook plus a mid-range jumper).
Cook said he picked up his most recent offer from Illinois along with interest from USF and Virginia. He said that he hopes to get to Iowa State soon for a visit and he's been to Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and St. Louis during the college season.
Deep with size and talent, Chaminade has several valuable parts and another who is emerging is junior guard Mike Lewis. The 6-foot-1 combo guard is making the move from the wing to the point and has picked up offers from Illinois State and IUPUI (in attendance Tuesday) to go along with interest from Drake, Central Michigan, Missouri State and San Jose State.
Click Here to view this Link.