By JACOB POLACHECK
Class of 2024 four-star guard Dink Pate was a standout during the AAU season, playing a crucial role with Team Trae Young on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit over the summer.
The 6-foot-7, 180-pound wing from Pinkston (TX), has developed into a point guard prospect and used the summer to show off his passing abilities and scoring talent.
“I think it opened up a lot of eyes, especially with me being able to score the ball,” Pate said. “I know I can score, but I can also be a playmaker too. These are just styles of my game that I plan on getting better at, but I feel like until someone can stop it, that’s what I’m going to be rocking with.”
Pate is currently holds offers and is being recruited by Arkansas, Houston, Arizona, Auburn, TCU, Texas, UCF and LSU. He is also receiving interest from USC, Kentucky and the G League Ignite.
He broke down each program:
Arkansas: “They’re really supportive. They flew out to all of my games during the live period last weekend. They’re really big on conditioning and being in shape and really everyone being a part of the team. They said there’s no isolation plays or anything like that. That’s what I am. I’m a team player. I can score. I can do a lot on my own, but I put the team first before I do what I do.”
Kentucky: “I talked to Coach (John) Calipari and he sounded like a really cool coach. He told me to call him if I needed anything and they invited me to their Midnight Madness in the fall. That will be really cool.”
USC: “My teammate was Tre White, who’s there right now. He told me a lot of good things about USC. He talked to the coaches and I talked to some of the coaches. I saw some of them at my games. They haven’t been in touch daily, but I’ve talked to them before.”
Houston: “Yes, Coach (Kelvin) Sampson and I are really close. Coach Sampson and I are like family. It’s not that far from home since I’m from Texas and I’m from Dallas. They were just like, if I come in and I’m there for two years, they can get me to my dream, which is the NBA.”
Arizona: “I haven’t talked to Arizona in a while.”
Auburn: “I haven’t talked to Auburn in a minute either, since the day they offered me.”
TCU: “I actually talked to Coach (Tony) Benford today (July 27). TCU is a good program and I like TCU. It’s cool.”
Texas: “I’ve talked to Coach (Chris) Beard before. They have a good coaching staff, a good program over there. One of my closest friends is Arterio Morris, who’s over there now. He told me that Texas is a good college.”
G League Ignite: “That type of route is getting me closer to my dream, which is the NBA. That’s like the junior NBA. I want to be a pro, so I feel like if I were to go there, it would be getting me ready for what I want to do for the next 15 to 20 years of my life. That’s a good possibility. I like the G League Ignite. I actually talked to Jalen Green when I was down at Prolific. He told me it’s a good facility. I’ve been down there before since it was in California and Prolific is in Napa, California. We would practice there and play there. It’s a good facility and I actually enjoy being there. I’ve been talking to the G League Ignite for two or three weeks now. They haven’t offered me yet.”
UCF: “I like Coach (Kevin) Norris. He comes out and supports. He told me that if I were to come to UCF, I’d be the starting point guard off the rip. For me to hear that from a college coach, that just motivates me even more that coaches are seeing my position now.”
Pate said he’s currently planning visits to Arkansas, LSU and UCF. He said UCF will be the first visit he takes.
As far as the factors he’s taking into consideration, Pate highly emphasized his attraction a school that allows him to play the point guard position.
“Knowing my position, knowing I can play the one, knowing that I am a point guard, knowing that they have the faith in me to take control over the game if I see something that the coach doesn’t and to call another play,” Pate said. “If they can believe in the ability that I have been blessed with by god and understand to help me with the game as I’m taking control of the game too.”
Photo: @ProVision
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