By JACOB POLACHECK
Sean Durugordon, the 6-foot-7, 216-pound small forward from Putnam Science (CT) Academy, told ZAGSBLOG Monday that Georgia, Missouri, VCU, Hofstra, East Carolina and DePaul are among the schools recruiting him the hardest.
He broke down each school:
Georgia: “Coach [Tom] Crean and I talk pretty much every other day. We talk a lot about getting me to my ultimate goal which is the NBA, of course. We talk a lot about off the court stuff too, how they see me as a person and [they’ve] just been checking in on me a lot. Out of all the schools that have been recruiting me, that’s probably been the one school that I’ve been in contact with the head coach the most.”
Missouri: “I’ve talked with coach [Cuonzo] Martin five or six times within the past month. We’ve just been having deep conversations about the whole situation there, how they think I could be a good fit. We talk a lot about the off-the-court stuff too, how they look after their players at the program and just overall, they’ve been talking a lot about their whole culture there and what I can bring there if I chose to go to Missouri. They haven’t officially offered yet.”
VCU: “VCU, their pitch is that they think I could come there and be in the rotation immediately as soon as I get on campus. They think I could be an immediate impact player. They think I can score the ball and defend at a high level. They really see me as a two-way player. They just really think that with my skill set, at VCU I will also be able to reach my ultimate goal of the NBA. They think that with their player development, they can help me reach my full potential. VCU is definitely a school that I’m definitely very interested in.”
Hofstra: “Hofstra has been recruiting me for the past two years. They recently offered me back in April. Their main pitch is they feel like in my class, they need a shooting guard that can come in right away and start. They said I can fill that role. The situation is there and the spot is open that if I were to come to the school, of course I would have to work for the spot, but they feel like I can be that guy to fill that starting spot. They really believe that I can also reach my goal of the NBA like Justin Wright-Foreman did and that I might even have better attributes to my game than him. So, they really think that I could come there and be like the hometown hero, stay home and really put Hofstra on the map.”
East Carolina: “Their pitch has been that I can go there and be an immediate impact player, that the opportunity will be there and they will use my skillset to it’s best. Coach [George] Wright-Easy has been watching me over the past year and we talk a lot, very good relationship with him and Coach [Joe] Dooley.
DePaul: “DePaul and I don’t talk too often, but when we do talk, our conversations are really meaningful. They were my first high-major offer. Whenever we do talk, it’s really deep and meaningful. I’ve been on a couple zoom calls and FaceTimes with coach [Dave] Leitao. They definitely made it clear that I’m a priority for them and made it clear that if I were to come to DePaul, I’d have a chance to make an immediate impact.”
Durugordon had a zoom call with the Georgia staff earlier this month.
“They were basically saying how they see me as a Victor Oladipo/Anthony Edwards, big guard that can really shoot the ball at a high level,” he said. “I remind them a lot of those two players and with my length, they think I could be a really big threat on defense. They really believe that if I go there, I will be able to reach my goal of the NBA just because of their player development and how they really get players to the next level, bringing out their potential.”
Durugordon is also receiving interest from Rutgers of late.
“I’ve had a little bit of interest from Rutgers over the last year, but recently I’ve been hearing from them a lot more,” he said. “I’ve been talking to coach [Steve] Hayn about what they see in me as a player, how he’s already talked to the staff about me and how he’s really looking forward to seeing me play as soon as coaches are allowed to watch players again and I should have Rutgers at the top of my mind.”
Durugordon has also recently been contacted by Arizona State assistant Rashon Burno.
“We’ve been texting. We FaceTimed last week and had a deep conversation about their program,” Durugordon said.
“He told me stories about Arizona State. He told me about how great of a state it is and he’s been talking to me about off-the-court stuff too, how it could be a really good fit for me.”
Earlier this month, Durugordon told ZAGSBLOG that he was targeting a commitment for “early next year”. However, at this moment, he isn’t limiting himself to a certain timetable.
“It can honestly be any type of timeframe,” he said. If I feel the school is right for me and the perfect fit then I have no problem shutting it down and choosing a school. I wouldn’t say it’s a specific time. Anytime, really.”
In terms of his decision, Durugordon says he’s taking in a number of factors, but one stands out among the rest.
“I’m just really big on accountability. I really like when people are noble to their word. That’s really big for me, regardless of basketball,” he said.
Durugordon also mentioned his relationship with the head coach, style of play and school culture as some of the deciding factors in his decision.
Those are the four main things I’m looking at, with No. 1 being accountability,” he said. “That’s definitely one thing I live by.”
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