By ADAM ZAGORIA
Sharife Cooper won the City of Palms MVP Award after leading his McEachern (GA) team to the championship on Saturday night over Imhotep Charter (PA).
Ranked the No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2020 by 247Sports.com, the 6-foot junior point guard went for 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the 68-47 victory.
Cooper is being recruited by a Who’s Who of high-major programs, including Kentucky, Auburn, Arizona and UCLA, and would like take several visits in the coming weeks and months.
“He’s supposed to be trying to get to Arizona, UCLA, trying to get back out to Kentucky, Auburn,” Omar Cooper, Sharife’s father and AAU coach, told ZAGSBLOG. “Try to take one to Duke to see Duke. Supposed to be going back up to see Rutgers. He’s supposed to be going up to see Mississippi State as well.
“Right now we don’t have any officials locked in.”
.@CooperSharife is the #CityofPalms MVP!!! ?? @overtime @McEachernSports pic.twitter.com/wegYJ3n3y8
— CityofPalmsClassic (@CityOfPalmsBKB) December 23, 2018
Kentucky had assistant Tony Barbee on hand at City of Palms to watch Cooper, who visited the SEC school in October before the season began.
“When we went to Kentucky, they were adamant about the expectations of being a Kentucky basketball player, what it comes with,” Omar said. “Being ready when you get here, the ball being in his hands. The people who came before him. They see him with the John Walls. There was a picture on the wall of John Wall and Derrick Rose and Cal [John Calipari], and he could be the next point guard in this picture and stuff like that.”
NICE LOOK by @CooperSharife ➡️ @JaredJones1_ ??????@McEachernSports @overtime #CityofPalms pic.twitter.com/AjEANsjP59
— CityofPalmsClassic (@CityOfPalmsBKB) December 23, 2018
Auburn assistant Ira Bowman also watched Cooper. McEachern has two players committed to the Tigers, in seniors Isaac Okoro and Babatunde Akingbola.
“They’ve been recruiting him for a while, since he was in seventh grade,” Omar said. “They got a lot of Georgia people on the roster, they recruit heavy in Georgia. They have successful guards from Georgia, their backcourt is from Georgia, so [their message] is we’re comfortable with Georgia guards.”
UCLA has also offered.
“They like the way he plays,” Omar said. “They think he fits in well with the Pac-12 style, with how he likes to get up and down and that type of stuff.”
As for Duke, he said, “I haven’t spoken to Duke in a minute. One time I spoke to them, they said they were coming to the game, they like the way he played, they like his game. I’m suposed to take him up there, he wants to go see the school.”
Cooper holds offers from Kentucky, Auburn, UCLA, Tennessee, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Clemson and Texas A&M, among others.
It’s the @CooperSharife SHOW right now. @McEachernSports is taking over. ??? @overtime #CityofPalms pic.twitter.com/nGK0pfBh4C
— CityofPalmsClassic (@CityOfPalmsBKB) December 23, 2018
“All of the schools have something different that they bring to the table when they’re recruiting you,” Omar said. “We’re just trying to get a feel if they’re good people. If you’re a good person, that usually trumps everything, so we’re just looking for good people.”
Omar said “Sharife is not even thinking about a list” right now.
“He told me what schools he wanted to visit in the beginning of September,” he said. “He hasn’t mentioned anything since. He’s just focused on high school and his team.”
Photo: Photo: Kinfay Moroti/News-Press
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