All Things Shamorie Ponds Recruiting Thread - UPDATED 9/16/15: Visit cancelled

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Shamorie Ponds Talks Recruiting, Says He's Known Gophers' Kimani Young His Whole Life
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/520169?referrer_id=

Shamorie Ponds, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard in the class of 2016 from Brooklyn (NY) Thomas Jefferson, is considered one of the top backcourt players in the country. Ponds helped lead the New York Lightning to a 9-8 mark in the Nike EYBL and a spot in the Peach Jam this July. The team finished 3-2 in Minnesota last weekend.

Ponds finished the four sessions of the EYBL as the circuit’s 13th leading scorer, averaging 17.1 points per game. Ironically, Ponds scored in double figures in his first 13 games, but failed to reach double digits in his last four contests. He scored more than 20 points seven times, including a streak of five consecutive games.

Ponds shot 41.4% from the field, 72.6% from the free throw line and 28.2% from three-point range. He also averaged 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Ponds averaged 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game for Jefferson, leading them to the PSAL Class AA City League semifinals. The Orange Wave finished 18-5 this past season. Ponds had a triple-double against biggest rival Lincoln as he had 35 points, 10 steals and 10 assists in a 98-86 win.

Gopher Hole caught up with Ponds at the recent EYBL event held in Maple Grove to learn the latest on his recruitment.

Gopher Hole: What is the latest on your college recruitment right now?

Shamorie Ponds: Minnesota, Xavier, St. John’s, Temple, Fordham, Oklahoma and DePaul.

Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now? Are you still able to keep track?

Shamorie Ponds: I think that I have 11 or 12.

Gopher Hole: What others schools are you hearing from besides the schools that have offered you?

Shamorie Ponds: That is pretty much it.

Gopher Hole: A big weekend for you as you move onto the Peach Jam. Where else are you playing this summer?

Shamorie Ponds: I don’t know our plans for the summer.

Gopher Hole: Are you going to any college or individual camps this summer?

Shamorie Ponds: Probably, St. John’s.

Gopher Hole: You are still aways from picking a school, but what are going to be the main things that are going to make you pick School A over School B or C?

Shamorie Ponds: Who is going to make me be a better person, better player and get me to the next level?

Gopher Hole: Have you been to Minnesota before this?

Shamorie Ponds: No.

Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers? What are they saying to you?

Shamorie Ponds: They just like me. I have known Coach Kimani Young for my whole life, basically. That is about it.

Gopher Hole: What do see your strengths as a guard?

Shamorie Ponds: I can score off of the ball. I don’t need the ball in my hands to score, I can get my teammates involved. Rebound. Defense. Stuff like that.

Gopher Hole: What things are you working to improve yourself not only for your senior year, but also to play college basketball?

Shamorie Ponds: Get stronger. Faster. Get ready for the next level.

Gopher Hole: Do you have a favorite school yet or is it still too early?

Shamorie Ponds: Too early.

Gopher Hole: Do you know what schools you are definitely going to try to visit yet?

Shamorie Ponds: Minnesota.
 


He is the class of .....................................................................
 


Awful person to interview and get good answers out of, but man, can the kid ever ball! He'd be the perfect finish to the 2016 recruiting class (we'll see what happens with Amir and the whole Fred situation first). If the Goohers found some way to get one of these two to pair with Hurt when all is said and done, the gophers will be sitting in good shape.
 


Ponds has the Gophers in his final 4. Great, great, great news!!!!!
 

scher215 said:
Ponds has the Gophers in his final 4. Great, great, great news!!!!!
Click to expand...

Here is his final four:

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

Definitely worried about St. Johns the most. Mullin has a good pitch with his NBA pedigree plus they are the hometown school.
 





MadtownGopher said:
I like our chances.
Click to expand...

Agree. He seems to really like it here and seems to be the exact player Pitino wants. As much as I want Coffey. I wouldn't be shocked if Ponds is Pitino priority #1. That said, let's get both :)
 

scher215 said:
Agree. He seems to really like it here and seems to be the exact player Pitino wants. As much as I want Coffey. I wouldn't be shocked if Ponds is Pitino priority #1. That said, let's get both :)
Click to expand...

Would be a hell of a class
 

Yeah, going up against that Sh1tty Big East should be no scare to us. B1G 10 >>>>>> Big East

/hyperbole/sarcasm
 



DeathClutch said:
Definitely worried about St. Johns the most. Mullin has a good pitch with his NBA pedigree plus they are the hometown school.
Click to expand...

We of all people should know top flight basketball players don't give a rat's a$$ about staying home lol
 

When you look at his final 4, it appears that Minnesota doesn't belong. I don't mean that in terms of quality, but the other three are smaller Catholic schools where basketball is the greatest and only priority. I'm not quite as optimistic as some of you are.

Do we know when he is going to announce?
 

JMWZ said:
When you look at his final 4, it appears that Minnesota doesn't belong. I don't mean that in terms of quality, but the other three are smaller Catholic schools where basketball is the greatest and only priority. I'm not quite as optimistic as some of you are.

Do we know when he is going to announce?
Click to expand...

In a final four, I'd rather be the team that is not like the other three.

Most of the time, a player has a pretty good idea of where they are going to go when they whittle down to 3 or 4 final teams. He could easily be leaning toward Minnesota and then simply picked three local teams recruiting him to fill out a top four.
 

JMWZ said:
When you look at his final 4, it appears that Minnesota doesn't belong. I don't mean that in terms of quality, but the other three are smaller Catholic schools where basketball is the greatest and only priority. I'm not quite as optimistic as some of you are.

Do we know when he is going to announce?
Click to expand...

We have a pretty good shot IMO. With his connection to Kimani, the fact that Richard has been to alot of his events, and we were also his first high major offer. I would be surprised if he didn't end up either here or St. Johns.
 

JMWZ said:
When you look at his final 4, it appears that Minnesota doesn't belong. I don't mean that in terms of quality, but the other three are smaller Catholic schools where basketball is the greatest and only priority. I'm not quite as optimistic as some of you are.

Do we know when he is going to announce?
Click to expand...

Ponds is currently on an official visit to Creighton and he will play in the Big Strick Classic Saturday in New York.

Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard said Ponds plans to visit the other schools soon before deciding.

“The dates are not set but he’s trying to schedule them for the summertime,” Pollard told SNY.tv.

http://zagsblog.com/articles/recruiting-roundup-jontay-porter-to-washington-shamorie-ponds-cuts-list/
 



Following his recent official visit to Creighton, Shamorie Ponds has three more official visits slated and could then make a decision.

The 6-foot-2 Brooklyn (N.Y.) Thomas Jefferson guard will visit St. John’s officially Aug. 28-30, Providence Sept. 11-13 and then Minnesota Sept. 18-20.

“He’s going to take those and make his decision,” Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard told SNY.tv on Wednesday.


He recently cut his list to four schools — St. John’s, Minnesota, Creighton and Providence.

Ponds was a guest on The 4 Quarters Podcast Wednesday and said his visit to Creighton was excellent.

“The visit was awesome,” he said on the Podcast.. “It shocked me. It was better than I expected. Everything was big…And the coach [Greg McDermott] is a cool guy, I like the coach.”

So for now, Ponds will play in the Big Strick Classic on Saturday at the Gauchos Gym and then plan for his St. John’s visit.

“I would just try to be the man of New York City and just stay home,” he said of the appeal of possibly playing at St. John’s.

Ponds said he knows New York fans would love to see local guys like himself and Rawle Alkins stay home and play for head coach Chris Mullin.

“If we all stay and played, people would be happy because they want to see us play at St. John’s together,” Ponds said. “But depending on my decision, I don’t know. But people would love to see that.”

Pollard said it’s possible Ponds could pull the trigger on or after that visit and forego the other visits.

“Unless St. John’s knocks his socks off to the point where he doesn’t take that visit,” Pollard said. “If St. John’s knocks his socks off you never know. You never could say never.”

Ponds averaged 25 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists last season and had two 40-point games and 11 30-point games.

http://zagsblog.com/articles/shamorie-ponds-to-visit-st-johns-minnesota/
 




Could be doing the Reid Travis thing, stringing along the local fans until he reveals his true destination of Minnesota!

Hey! It could happen!
 

Really want this kid on our squad but my gut tells me he stays home and goes St. Johns. Hope I'm wrong....
 

I hear Norwood is organizing his entertainment portion of his visit!
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2016 G <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamorieP">@ShamorieP</a> : 'My decision is coming real soon.'
St. John's, Minny, Providence, Creighton.</p>— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamZagoria/status/629712718157643776">August 7, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Likely not good for the Gophers if true.
 



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