By MIKE GRIMALA
LAS VEGAS — Jordan Tucker and Jordan Nwora sure know how to draw a crowd.
The Class of 2017 wing duo took the floor at the Las Vegas Fab 48 on Wednesday in front of coaches from Xavier, Indiana, Duke, Seton Hall, St. John’s Marquette, Long Beach, UNLV and more, and NY Rens coach Andy Borman has a good idea why his twosome is so popular.
“I think the thing that’s interesting to college coaches is that they still have room to improve,” Borman said. “With these kids, Tucker and Nwora, they can do so many things and they’re so versatile. I don’t think their identities are even established yet, which makes their ceiling so much higher. College coaches see that and recognize how good they could be.”
Tucker, a 6-foot-7 swingman out of White Plains (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac who averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game in EYBL play, takes every audition seriously.
“My goal is to show the coaches and scouts that I’m a complete player,” Tucker said. “I want to show that I can do everything—get to the basket, pass, shoot. I think I’m coming along to be that player that I want to be.”
Tucker listed Indiana, Maryland, Syracuse, Villanova and USC among the schools that are recruiting him the hardest and said that he’ll start to trim his list to 7-10 schools once he hears from one more program.
“I’m pretty much set with my final list,” he said. “I haven’t announced it yet because I’m waiting on a Duke offer, and then I’ll announce after that.”
Nwora, a 6-foot-8 combo forward from Vermont Academy with outstanding shooting range, said his performance has taken off in the last year since he dedicated himself to getting in shape and taking care of his body. It’s allowed him to add a physical dimension to his game and opened up more opportunities to score in the paint.
“Last year, body-wise I just wasn’t in the kind of shape to compete with these guys,” Nwora said. “I just started drinking only water, and running 2-3 miles every day and that’s helped me slim down a lot. And now this year I’m proving that I can play and be one of the best at this level.”
Like Tucker, Nwora is planning to start focusing on his college options shortly after the summer season comes to an end.
“I have 30, 35-plus offers,” Nwora said. “Some more will probably come after this tournament. And then probably sometime in August I’ll sit down with my family and talk with some coaches and try to narrow down the list.”
Nwora has already taken unofficial visits to Seton Hall, USC, Marquette and Northwestern, and he counted Oklahoma State, Cal, Utah, Pitt, Georgia Tech and UConn among the schools that are recruiting him the hardest at the moment.
