WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Deng Gak, the 6-foot-10 power forward from Blair (N.J.) Academy and the PSA Cardinals, has not set up any college visits yet but has three schools in mind for trips.
“Duke, Kansas and probably Miami,” Gak, ranked No. 80 in the new 2017 ESPN 100, told me last Thursday at the Frankie Williams Classic at Archbishop Stepinac High School.
Gak is close with current Miami Heat and former Duke wing Luol Deng. Deng attended Blair and both Deng and Gak are of Dinka descent. Duke offered Gak in April.
“Coach [Jeff] Capel’s been talking to me a lot, too, now, and coach [Jon] Scheyer,” Deng said.
“They say they’re offer to me has nothing to do with Luol Deng,” Gak added. “They offered me purely because they think I would fit their system. They just try to stress to me that it wasn’t because of [Deng].”
Duke remains in the mix for a slew of bigs in 2017, most notably Wendell Carter Jr. and Mohamed Bamba, ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively in the 2017 ESPN 100.
Gak, who was selected to the Pangos All-American Camp Top 30 Cream of the Crop Game, also wants to visit Miami and Kansas, which has produced its share of bigs and is the frontrunner for DeAndre Ayton, No. 1 in 2017.
“Miami definitely is [recruiting me hard],” he said. “I was watching them play a lot last year and they had a really good year. I think that’s why I started liking them, just the way they play. When they beat Duke that was a really big game.
As for Kansas: “Bill Self is one of the best coaches in college basketball. He always has his squad in contention for a national title. I also like the huge development that their players make in their individual games, e.g. Joel Embiid. Kansas is also really close to where the majority of my family lives (Kansas City, around that area)”
Gak also recently added offers from Georgia Tech and Texas A&M, but has not yet compiled a list.
“Definitely I’ll cut my list soon,” he said.
Meantime, he’s looking forward to playing the Peach Jam July 6-10 with his loaded PSA Cardinals team that includes Bamba, Brandon Randolph, Quade Green Hasahn French and 2019 point guard Cole Anthony.
“We haven’t even really played well, that’s the scary thing,” he said of a team with a 14-2 record heading to Peach Jam. “We only lost two games. I haven’t played the past two sessions, Mo hasn’t. Cole’s been out. We’ve had a lot of injuries and we’re still winning. I think that really shows what we can do at Peach Jam.”
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