By DANIEL YNFANTE
NEW YORK — In front of Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Self, Richard Pitino and a handful of college coaches, Isaiah Todd had an opportunity to showcase his skills on Saturday at the Adidas Gauntlet Finale.
But in front of Todd stood a giant roadblock. Todd’s AAU squad, Team Loaded North Carolina took on D1 Minnesota and 6-foot-9 forward Matthew Hurt, the No. 6 ranked player in the class of 2019.
Todd, a 6-foot-11 forward went up head to head with Hurt and lost the battle, scoring 7 points on 2-of-14 from the field and grabbing just 4 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Hurt scored 29, and his team improved to 3-0 in the tournament with a 77-59 victory.
“Matthew is a good player,” Todd said. “He’s the top in his class. It was fun to watch and it was fun to play.”
Coach K and a host of other schools taking in 6’10 + class of 2020 big man Isaiah Todd (@teamloadednc) + 6’9 class of 2019 product Matthew Hurt (@D1Minnesota) here at the #adidas #gauntlet @BasketballCity
Todd has 9 PTS at the break + Hurt has an efficient 11 PTS pic.twitter.com/91YHXFS6vJ
— DraftExpressContent (@DXContent) July 14, 2018
But despite Todd’s struggles, the junior showed flashes of brilliance, proving why he’s the No.10 ranked player on 247Sports.com’s class of 2020 list. Early in the first half, Todd blocked a layup attempt by Hurt. A couple minutes later, Todd received the ball in the post, backed down Hurt and hit a turn-around jumper fading away to his left. Later in the half, Todd once again displayed an impressive game with his back to the basket. He posted up on the left side of the court, faked a handoff, spun to his left, but missed the layup.
Over three games at the Adidas Gauntlet, Todd averaged 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Coaches from Marlyand, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oklahoma State were in attendance for his games.
“Those coaches are cool, but they don’t really excite me,” Todd said. “They don’t get me amped for the game, I’m already amped. Most of those coaches are like my friends, so it’s like anybody else watching.”
Todd says that Maryland and Oklahoma State are recruiting him the hardest, but he has not given much thought yet about where he’s going to school.
Bill Self, Coach K (+1), Tony Bennett, Pat Chambers (+2), Greg Gard (+1), Matt Painter among long list of head coaches for @D1Minnesota vs. @teamloadednc that features five-stars Matthew Hurt and Isaiah Todd.
Kentucky, UCLA, Louisville, USC, (multiple) Stanford coaches here too. pic.twitter.com/CXSUgXAsEc
— Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22) July 14, 2018
“I’m really just trying to focus on my game, I don’t get wrapped up in my recruitment,” he said.
But when he does make a college decision, one factor will weigh heavily.
“I want it to be my own thing. I don’t want to team up with nobody,” Todd said. “I like making something out of nothing so people can realize that this kid is special.”
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