UNION, N.J. — At 6 feet, 6 1/2 inches, Kameron Chatman is not your averaged sized point guard.
In fact, he’s not really a point guard at all but he played one at the recent Nike Point Guard Skills Academy at Kean University.
He’s actually listed as a small forward by the major recruiting services.
“Freshman year I played point guard at my school,” Chatman said, referring to his time at Portland (Ore.) Jefferson, the school that produced NBA players Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross. “I’m not really a point guard. I’m a guy who likes to play off my teammates. I’m an unselfish guy. Whatever the coach wants me to do I could do.”
Canaan Chatman, Kameron’s father and a former player at Oregon State, said he wanted his son at the Deron Williams/Kyrie Irving Academy instead of the Kevin Durant Wing Academy so he would work on his game.
“We don’t think he’s a point guard, he has point guard skills,” Canaan told SNY.tv Tuesday.
After two years at Long Beach (CA) Poly, Chatman will return home to Oregon for his senior year and will suit up at Portland (Ore.) Columbia Christian.
“He’s coming back home for his senior year,” his father told SNY.tv Tuesday.
As far as colleges, Chatman is currently working with a list of seven schools that may get cut later this summer.
Arizona, Oregon, Michigan, UConn and USC have all offered, while Duke and Syracuse are expressing interest, Canaan said.
Chatman will compete in the LeBron James Skills Academy this week in Las Vegas, the Nike Global Challenge in Washington D.C., and then play the AAU circuit. After July, he could trim his list depending on what happens.
“He might leave it at seven,” Canaan said. “It will be easier once we get through the month of July.
“We’ll know if Duke is offering, we’ll know where Syracuse stands, if they do step up and he’s definitely interested. He may not visit Oregon [officially], he may not visit USC [officially]. We might use his five visits on the other schools.”
Syracuse is the most recent school to show interest, with assistant Adrian Autry calling over the weekend.
“Syracuse was the only other school that Kameron always was excited about,” his father said. “Syracuse with their zone and with their length, they get out and run.
“I don’t know how serious it is. Everybody else is locked in and not really taking on any newcomers. Syracuse was on his intiial list from the gate.”
Duke — which will now face Syracuse in the ACC — has also expressed interest and will follow Chatman in July.
Of course, Duke is also considered the favorite for Minnesota point guard Tyus Jones and Chicago big man Jahlil Okafor, but Chatman could be more of a wing player.
“They haven’t offered,” Canaan said. “They have shown interest. They have our schedule. They saw him play all through EYBL and will take a closer look at him during Global Challenge.”
Michigan was Chatman’s most recent visit.
“We like Michigan,” Canaan said. “I’ve known Coach [John] Beilien and he’s known me since I was playing. Obviously, on the year that they had you gotta pay attention to that.
“They’re trying to lock down some national recruits and we definitely like Michigan.”
USC is also a strong contender with new coach Andy Enfield.
“Just being in Southern Cal for the last couple of years, we gotta pay attention to what’s going on in the L.A. market,” Canaan said.
“USC has become a far more viable option. We like Coach Enfield. We like what they’re doing. Cameron has [former teammate] Roschon Prince there. They were high school teammates. We like what they’re doing and what they’re trying to build.”
UConn is also making a strong push.
“Coach [Kevin] Ollie had offered early,” Canaan said. “And [California native and UConn commit] Daniel Hamilton is working on him pretty hard. We like Kevin Ollie. He’s a West Coast guy replanted on the East Coast. We definitely like UConn.”
Oregon is a local option and Arizona is another Pac-12 power.
“He might do one more unofficial to Arizona in early or mid-August,” he dad said. “At the end of August we’ll start taking officials.
“I’m sure once he gets through Global Challenge and Las Vegas we should pretty much have a good wrap on where his five visits are going to be.”
