By KHADRICE ROLLINS
CHICAGO — Despite rumors that Ivan Rabb was ready to make an announcement at the McDonald’s All-American scrimmage on Tuesday, he said that’s not the case.
“It wasn’t true at all,” Rabb told SNY.tv before the game. “I think my words probably got misconstrued a little bit. I said there might be a possibility, but right now, I still haven’t gotten to talk with my family, so I’m not doing it.”
The 6-foot-11 big man from Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd said that he is choosing between Arizona and California, and they are many factors that are playing in role in his decision-making.
“The biggest difference between the two programs is Arizona is already established,” Rabb told Quint Kessenich during the game. “They get deep in the [NCAA] Tournament every year. And Cal, they have a new coaching staff and they’re very hungry and they’re looking for somebody like myself to come into the program and try to turn things around. And if I was to go there I possibly would be able to get people to come with me.
Rabb added at media day that he has spoken with fellow McDonald’s All-Americans Jaylen Brown and Caleb Swanigan a lot about going to school together, but as of now he still needs to talk with some people and get advice before he makes his final decision. Cal is recruiting both Brown and Swanigan, while Arizona is not.
Asked on air if he wanted to be the face of a program like Cal or not, Rabb said, “That’s the issue I’m trying to figure out what I wanna do. It’s a decision that I’m going to make because I’m going to be the one that has to live with it and play there and live there for as long as I want to be so it’s my choice.”
Do the local folks in Oakland want him to stay at Cal?
“Of course everybody wants me to stay home,” Rabb said. “I know if I stayed there, I’ll have great energy, great fan support and I’ll be able to help the program in a big way.
Sources told SNY.tv that Rabb is expected to pick Cal over Arizona.
Wherever he goes, Rabb figures to be a difference-maker.
“He’ll have a major impact,” Mark Olivier of the Oakland Soldiers told the Mercury News. “Why? Because of his athleticism and being ambidextrous. His jump shot is incredible and his mid-range game is very, very good.”
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