By ADAM ZAGORIA
Noah Farrakhan has selected his future destination.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound point guard from The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J. committed to East Carolina on Tuesday, he told ZAGSBLOG.
“Coach [Joe] Dooley is a Jersey guy,” Farrakhan said. “He’s also a former] St. Benedict’s [Prep] guy. He believes in me as a person and basketball player.
“I just want to hoop and further my education and win games with East Carolina. It’s also a college town I believe Coach Dooley has my best interest at heart.”
Penn State, DePaul, Boston College and New Mexico were also recruiting him at various times.
Farrakhan averaged 7.1 points and 2.4 assists this season at The Patrick School, shooting 46 percent from the field and 34 percent from deep (13-for-38.)
“East Carolina is getting a point guard that I wish I had the opportunity to coach all four years of high school,” Patrick school coach Chris Chavannes said. “The last third of our season Noah became one of our most productive players on both ends of the floor. They are getting a proven player who will make an immediate impact.”
ECU will play at Temple this season so the Newark native will get one game close to home in Jersey.
Noah Farrakhan sky WALKING 🤞 pic.twitter.com/yylbF1ryAn
— Overtime (@overtime) February 27, 2020
After transferring back home to New Jersey from IMG Academy for his senior season, Farrakhan came on strong at The Patrick School toward the end of the season. He went for 17 points when the Celtics beat Roselle Catholic for the Union County championship in February.
After playing at IMG Academy with a squad that included Armando Bacot (North Carolina), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova) and Josh Green (Arizona), Farrakhan said he started to feel “a little homesick after we won the national championship” at the GEICO Nationals in 2019.
“I was like, why not bring it back home?” he said.
Noah Farrakhan has committed to East Carolina 👀 (per @AdamZagoria) pic.twitter.com/zUnurQqUrO
— Overtime (@overtime) April 21, 2020
He ran the show for a loaded team that included Jonathan Kuminga, the No. 1 junior in the nation, top junior forward Adama Sanogo and other weapons, including Zarique Nutter, Bretner Mutumbo and Chris Jiao.
The Celtics lost to Roselle Catholic in the New Jersey North Non-Public B semifinals.
“It’s very special, very magical,” he said before the season ended. “These guys are very good at what they do. We play very hard when we need to. These are unbelievable pieces. Jon is a No. 1 draft pick in my eyes. Adama is a force down low, he knows how to set people up, knows how to post up. Zarique Nutter also. These are just unbelievable forces.”
This post has been updated.
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