By BEN BASKIN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK — Rawle Alkins is not your typical high school sophomore, even among other top-rated basketball players. And that’s not just because he is atypically unselfish.
“Scoring to me is not a big thing,” Alkins said in an exclusive to SNY.tv after he scored 14 points in a 67-49 home win over rival Bishop Loughlin on Sunday afternoon. “I don’t care about points like that. I just want to win basketball games.”
While Alkins did not display his best offensive game in the contest— not taking one shot from outside the paint, although known to have a good shooting stroke— his presence was always felt. Whether on defense, as he had five blocks, or on the boards, as he pulled down five rebounds, or helping out teammates, as he had five dimes, Alkins showcased his complete, all-around game.
“He just does whatever it takes to win,” Christ the King head coach Joe Arbitello said. “That’s what I love about him.”
But that’s not what sets him apart the most. What makes the soft-spoken, 6-foot-5 shooting guard stand out so starkly when watching him play is his preternatural athletic ability. It is the type of athletic ability that one does not come across very often. The type that gets fans to jump out of their seats and stops reporters from typing on press row.
The best way to portray his athleticism is to describe a couple of plays from Sunday’s win. The first play came in early in the second quarter, on an inbounds play from under Christ the King’s own basket. The play began innocuously enough, a throw in from the left side of the hoop. Yet that changed when the inbounder simply lofted the ball into the air in front of the hoop, seemingly nobody in the area to receive it. But then Alkins came streaking down the lane and took off in the air, soaring higher and higher and meeting the ball at its apex. Although the subsequent dunk attempt banged off the rim and careened away, it was as breathtaking as any failed alleyoop could be.
“I’m just gifted, man. God blessed me,” Alkins said in his typically understated way when discussing that play and his athleticism.
The second play was more successful, and just as astounding. When Christ the King was sitting in their 2-3 zone, Alkins was playing down-low on the left side of the hoop. On one play late in the fourth quarter of a close game, a Bishop Loughlin player got the ball on the right block and appeared to have a wide open layup. Alkins, however, had other thoughts, as he recovered quickly to the other side of the basket, leaped into the air, and ripped the ball out of his opponent’s hands. It would go down merely as one of his six blocks on the day.
“Who’s a better sophomore around than he is?” said Tom Konchalski, NYC talent evaluator. “He just stuffed the stat sheet.”
Alkins, again only a sophomore, holds offers from Minnesota, Villanova, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Fordham and figures to add more going forward.
Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan was on hand on Sunday to watch Alkins and his 2014 teammate Adonis Delarosa.
Loughlin guard Mike Williams — who had an off game only scoring two points on free throws— is a Rutgers commit, so one could posit that Jordan was killing two birds with one game, as he was able to watch both Williams and Alkins play.
Alkins said that right now, he is not “really focused on colleges,” and that he will focus on his college career next season when he is a junior.
“My primary goal is to win a state championship, a city championship,” Alkins said. “But after that, my personal goal is just turn all my interest into offers.”
Alkins said he is looking for a school with a “great atmosphere” and “good education.”
“I just want to go a school where its going to best help me go where I want to be,” Alkins said.
