NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — John Petty said he wasn’t looking at the coaches on the sidelines when he took off for a 360, two-handed dunk in the quarterfinals of the Peach Jam.
“It’s just a little energy booster for the game,” the 6-foot-7 Petty out of Huntsville (AL) Johnson said after leading Team Penny into the semifinals with a 74-63 win over the NY Rens that was played before a packed crowd including Kentucky head coach John Calipari and two assistants and Alabama head coach Avery Johnson.
“I still don’t really pay attention to the coaches on the side, I just go out and play the game,” he added after going for 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. “That was just a time when we was going on a run so I did something to hype the crowd up and get my team energized and push the lead…That’s my style, I love showboating and doing the flashy dunks.”
John Petty, you are our hero �������� @jpetty2324 @TeamPennyHoops #BringYourGame pic.twitter.com/rZMA8DBtOu
– Overtime (@overtime) July 9, 2016
Petty and his teammates now get another New York team in Mohamed Bamba and the PSA Cardinals, who took care of Expressions Elite, 53-45.
“I know about them quite well, we play U18 [USA] training I play with those guys,” Petty said of Bamba and Quade Green, who both head to U18 training camp in Houston on Monday. “It’s going to be a tough game. We just gotta go out and execute our game.”
As for recruiting, it’s still a two-team race between Kentucky and Alabama for Petty.
“I talked to [Kentucky] earlier, I knew they was coming, but I don’t really pay attention,” he said. “I just continue to play, play hard.”
Petty also feels Kentucky is “working pretty hard.”
“We talk almost every day, we talk consistently so I think they’re pretty hard on me,” he said. “I talk to Calipari and Kenny Payne.”
The same goes for Alabama and Johnson.
“He always just be telling me ‘Great job at the games’ or he always hit me up to see how I’m doing,” he said. “It’s like a family thing, just checking up on me.”
A year ago, Malik Newman (Mississippi State) and Ben Simmons (LSU) both spurned bluebloods to either stay close to home or, in Simmons’ case, play for someone he knew (David Patrick).
Asked if he thought about what those two had done in terms of not picking a blueblood, Petty said, “Not really. It might have been something different. I choose mine based on how they approach me and how they welcome me in. That’s how I basically choose where I’m going.”
He has no timetable on a decision and no visits planned.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Me and my mom talk about it sometimes, but I really don’t know.”
