UNION, N.J. — Kelvin Amayo turned up Sunday at Kean University to watch the St. Benedict’s-St. Patrick game with his NIA Prep teammates.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound fifth-year point guard shared the gym with Rutgers head coach Mike Rice, Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard and other coaches, which seems only appropriate since he’s being courted by various Big East schools.
“I have offers from Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Colorado, Iowa State, some more schools,” Amayo, a Hillside, N.J. native, said during a break in the action. “Arizona State just came in today, so I don’t have no favorite right now.”
He added: “Pittsburgh and Rutgers are recruiting me the hardest.”
He’s also slated to visit Rice University Jan. 18. Rice features another New Jersey product in former St. Ben’s point guard Tamir Jackson.
Amayo said he’s “leaning to the Big East, but if Pac-10 or Big 12 or any other conference comes, I’ll lean to that, too.”
Amayo is not considered a pure point guard or a pure shooter, more of an athletic combo guard.
“I’m a guard that can get to the rim with ease,” he said. “And I’ve been working on my pullup jumper so I come down and shoot jumpers now. I think I’ll be an impact player.”
Said NIA Prep coach Rudy King: “Kelvin is a spectacular athlete who has the ability to not only play at the next level but also have an immediate impact for the right program.
“Kelvin has proven he’s virtually impossible to stop from going to the rim against anybody in the USA. To Kelvin’s credit he is working many hours developing his jumper to balance out his offensive output which is already explosive.
“He is also making a commitment to be more consistent on the defensive end, which he has the ability to do at a high level because of his soccer background. He has extremely quick feet and once this happens we may be saying Kelvin’s name for years to come because he’s that talented.”
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