DeAndre Ayton says Duke and Kentucky best develop big men. (Photo by Kelly Kline/Under Armour)
By SEAN MORAN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Only a rising junior, DeAndre Ayton is considered the top prospect in high school basketball. He spent this past weekend at the Top 100 camp and while he did not dominant the competition he was still named to the All-Star team and had several opponents’ state that he was the toughest player to guard in camp.
Standing at 6-foot-11 with an already chiseled frame and an athletic grace when he flies up and down the court, Ayton does not want to be labeled as just a back to the basket player and wants to fancy his game after the soon to be number one draft pick in Karl Anthony-Towns.
“Yeah, I picture my game as Karl Towns,” said Ayton. “He runs the floor, plays defense, and shoots the outside jumper.”
When asked his thoughts on another soon to be top pick in Jahlil Okafor, Ayton noted “He did alright, I think he could’ve done more. I’m an athletic big. A stretch four. I don’t like to be in the post that much. I can play in the post, but someone else can play in the post while I’m outside.”
Both Kentucky and Duke have reached out to Ayton along with schools such as San Diego State and Kansas. When asked what schools do the best job developing big men, Ayton quickly said “Coach K and Kentucky, for sure. I mean Kentucky and Duke do a great job with their bigs. Just them two that’s it.”
While the recruiting pitches will certainly start to pick-up, Ayton is not in a rush to make any rash decisions and doesn’t have any plans to follow the Emmanuel Mudiay path overseas.
“Where I grew up and since I’ve been in the United States education is first,” said Ayton. “Got to have something to fall back on if basketball don’t work out. That’s really on my mind. I just got off my injury after I broke my patella. That really got me thinking. I spent two to three months thinking about what I have to fall back on. This was a serious injury. I’m still thinking about college. Maybe like next year I’ll make a decision. My family back home don’t really know much about it, but the family I have in the United States they know a lot and they just tell me to take my time and not rush. We were going to take our time. Step by step. Get as many visits as we can.”
Due to his injury, Ayton returned to the court over at the Under Armour stop in Ardsley, N.Y., over Memorial Day weekend. Playing for the Supreme Court AAU team on the Under Armour circuit, Ayton wasted no time showing observers why he could well be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft as he averaged 16.5 points on 53 percent shooting to go with 13.5 rebounds per game.
Putting together a string of double-doubles is nothing new for Ayton. His legend started to grow last July during the LeBron James Skills Academy and then in the fall he showed up for a scrimmage in the Bahamas against the North Carolina varsity team. Going against players four to five years older, Ayton ended up with 17 points and 18 rebounds.
“At first I didn’t want to play, but then I’m like nah I got to get better,” said Ayton. “I was getting banged up pretty bad a little bit, but then I said nah, I’m playing. I’ve got to give these boys buckets. It’s just all natural. I started making baskets and was doing what I do on the boards. Just playing my role. Not doing too much. It was tough at first, but it doesn’t really matter who I’m guarding or who my opponent is and I tell myself I’m the best on the court and no one is going to guard me. I keep that to myself and stay with that the whole game.”
