WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Two years ago, Rawle Alkins out-dueled Isaiah Whitehead to win MVP honors at the Frankie Williams Classic.
At that stage, Alkins was being courted by schools like Villanova, Cincinnati and Seton Hall.
Fast forward two years and Whitehead is now moving toward the NBA Draft, while the 6-foot-5 Alkins is headed towards his freshman year at Arizona.
“I was playing against Whitehead, we were going at it,” Alkins recalled of that game in which he went for 36 points and Whitehead had 35.
On Thursday, Whitehead worked out for the Indiana Pacers (ahead of a Knicks workout on Saturday), while Alkins returned to the Frankie Williams Classic — this time in the air-conditioned environs at Archbishop Stepinac High School.
“I’m going to try to put on a show in the Frankie Williams Classic,” he told me before the game. “This is my second time in the event. It was my sophomore year [when I last came] so I decided to come back. Everyone came up to me [before the game], I could tell they remembered me, too. So it’s going to be a fun event, I’m looking forward to all this great competition.”
Alkins did not disappoint.
He was named MVP after going off for 28 points as the Blue team beat the White team, 140-120, before a packed house at Stepinac.
In April, Alkins was named the MVP of the 43rd annual Capital Classic after going for 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks as the USA All Stars beat the Capital All Stars 118-116 at Catholic University.
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St. John’s-bound guard Shamorie Ponds, who tried to recruit Alkins to Queens without success, went for 30 in the loss and Bishop Loughlin guard Markquis Nowell had 20 in defeat and earned Sportsmanship honors.
Alkins, arguably the best New York City product since Lance Stephenson, will head to Arizona soon — and he will do so having lost more than 20 pounds since his time at Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy.
“I was a little heavy, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I had a lot of fat.”
Alkins weighed as much as 237 pounds after leaving Christ the King for the South, but says he’s now down to 215 thanks to a diet and workout regimen.
“I went on a 21-day water diet,” he said. “No juice, no fried food, cut out the Wendy’s and McDonald’s. It was hard at first, but your body just gets used to it in a couple months. It’s all muscle too because I’ve been lifting.”
As far as his future at Arizona, Alkins is part of a recruiting class that includes guards Kobi Simmons and Terrance Ferguson and power forward Lauri Markkanen.
They will join returning guards Allonzo Trier, Kadeem Allen and Parker Jackson-Cartwright and wing Ray Smith, who missed last year with injury.
Much has been made of the fact that as many as seven players will be competing for three spots on the floor, but Alkins isn’t concerned.
“We all talk Final Four,” Alkins said. “One thing that stuck with me, Coach [Sean] Miller said with team success comes individual success. So as long as we’re all doing our parts really well like we know we can, we’re all going to do fine.”
Alkins added: “This is a unique Arizona team. They’ve never had a team like us where we’ve had five five-stars and we already had five stars on the team so this is not your average Arizona team that you’re used to seeing.”
Alkins likes the idea of versatile, position-less players and believes he can be one.
“I feel like I am an interchangeable player,” he said. “I can play the 1-4. That’s going to open me up for a lot more minutes where I’m guarding the bigs, even have double-figure rebounding.”
NBack when he was a sophomore, Rawle Alkins won MVP honors at the Frankie Williams Classic when he went head-to-head with Isaiah Whitehead.
